Anime Car Wars: Fuel's Gold
by Sitting on the Event Horizon
Summary: Re-edited Ch 5. A moment later, he couldn't believe his eyes as the Hauberk Custom barreled out from behind them with only support fire from the rest of the militia as her back up. He has to find a way to help or Akane will die. Re-edited version complete
1. Duels and Missions

**Welcome to the world…**

**Where the right of way belongs to those with the biggest guns **

**Where killing is ok, as long as it's not pre-meditated**

**Where the most of the world's food supply is divided into**

**edible species of algae, **

**those grown in hydroponics' vats ****and an experimental breed of grain **

**made in a small town ****deep in the US ****Midwest with **

**the potential to feed the rest of the world **

**Where chaos is just a step away from your front door and your own survival depends on **

**Your wits and weaponry**

**Welcome to Anime Car Wars…**

* * *

**"Let's get ready to rumble…"** – Micheal Buffer, famous American boxing announcer

Chapter 1 – Duels and Missions

The early afternoon sun had shined mercilessly over an auto duel arena in post-blight downtown Albany. Tires had squealed on cracked concrete, the latter's surface was warmed by the sun's rays as the morning star had made its way across the clear early afternoon sky.

The hot and humid atmosphere was filled with the sounds of combat and the putrid smell of newly ignited gunpowder.

In the middle of all this, two duel cars, a gray Viper (Superflash) and a Pontiac Trans Am (Hauberk Custom), were locked in mortal combat. Both of the said vehiciles' drivers had acknowledged his opponent as a stepping stone to claim the 6,000 dollar purse in the ongoing Albany Fall Classic.

Of course, neither one wished to kill the other being good friends outside the arena. They were just there to prove their mettle against each other to the delight of the crowd like gladiators of ancient times.

The crowd, sheltered in the large overhangs above the steel rafters while sitting in their recycled plastic seats, had cheered loudly for each competitor as they had placed their bets on who would win this duel and be a step closer to the upcoming New York Open which was to be held in a weeks time at the Big Apple.

You see, in the year 2036, auto duelling has become the rage in entertainment, every exiting duel brings in the large crowds.

Ranma Saotome, driver of the Hauberk Custom was up against Mu Tzu (Mousse to his friends), driver of the Superflash in fierce combat.

Bullets zing through the air as each car had tried to disable the other with well placed shots. Both cars were severely damaged but still able to fight.

Mousse had fired his now visible front machine guns in the middle of a sliding left turn. He had hoped to disable either the Hauberk's machine guns or its power plant but was not able to do either. This was due to the well-timed evasive maneuvers made by his opponent.

He did manage to do some damage on the Hauberk's left side armor while drilling more holes on the concrete surface in the Hauberk's wake.

Ranma had shrugged off the nicks in his plastic armor with ceramic chips as he had baited his opponent to charge him before making a sudden 270 degree counter-clockwise turn to set up his car's turreted recoilless rifle for a free hit on the Superflash's hood just between the fender and the driver side door.

The Superflash had lurched to a sudden stop, its hood now spewing smoke. Its guns had also gone silent for some reason.

"Shit, you got my power plant." Mousse cursed over the radio.

"Sorry 'bout that." apologized Ranma, grateful for his blue helmet that hid the smile on his face.

"Damn it, I'm out of the running. Shampoo's really gonna be mad at you for defeating me," cursed Mousse dejectedly, but a tiny smirk still found its way to his lips just the same. As with Ranma, he too was glad that his white helmet had hid his facial expressions well.

Ranma had visibly winced at the implication, making a mental note not to get a check up in the local clinic where Xian Pu (Shampoo), Mousse's wife, has worked in the next few weeks.

Mousse had pulled out his helmet and set it down on the gunner seat beside him, shoulder-length raven-black hair cascading down the back of his armor.

"Oh well. Good luck in the final match, Ranma." Mousse said as he had cheered his friend on, but his face still could not help but betray his sadness at losing their match. He had quickly shook his head to clear it as his dueling vehicle was being towed out of the arena.

Thirty minutes later, a modified Rothschild Morningstar had entered the pock marked concrete field of battle.

It is both driven and owned by Ryoga Hibiki, Ranma's best friend and greatest rival in the arena. The Morningstar immediately had scattered a lot of spider mines as it went around the arena floor, making Ranma very nervous.

Ranma's mind was working overtime on how to avoid as many spider mines as possible, while avoiding Ryoga's own attacks and still be able to hit his opponent.

Ryoga, on the other hand, was thinking on how to maximize his Vulcan machine gun's ammo since it only had nine rounds left. He had regretted his decision to rely on long range shooting to wear down his earlier opponents when he could have just used his usual tactic of ramming them to the spider mines that he had left earlier.

The fanged autoduelist knew that Ranma is not called the "Wild Stallion" for nothing.

His best course of action was to use his car's ram plate, forcing the Hauberk to hit the mines. This strategy had given him many victories in the arena before. Unfortunately, it would only work if his opponent was directly in front of him. It was this weakness that Ranma would certainly exploit as his pony tailed opponent could easily out maneuver him.

Both drivers knew what was at stake in this match- the winning purse of the Albany Fall Classic and a shiny golden trophy.

After a few minutes checking their instruments and what not, they had charged into each other with the intent of knocking the other out of contention.

Both drivers had gone at it tooth and nail, each using good tactics and efficient use of weaponry to gain the edge over his rival.

The Hauberk had sustained a lot of damage, no thanks to the numerous spider mines that magnetically attached to its body before exploding, as it had twisted and turned to avoid the Morningstar's intermittent shots and its signature "out of the blue" ramming attacks.

The mines, that either exploded as they had clamped to the Hauberk's body or accidentally shot at by Ryoga's Vulcan, had detonated the others nearby with their airborne remains.

This had resulted in complete fratricide among the remaining spider mines that enveloped the two duel cars in white smoke and flying shrapnel.

The arena itself began to look like a war zone with all that white smoke covering the arena proper. Within the dense fog, telltale flashes and sounds of even more explosions were both seen and heard by the surprised then disappointed spectators eager to see what is happening.

Two specific spectators were also watching worriedly from their respective seats nearest the arena itself. Each one was wondering if either of their husbands would get out of this duel alive. As such, both women had held the other one's hand as a means of comforting each other.

Thankfully, only a few people were hurt by a few stray pieces of flying debris that were accidentally ejected outside the white cloud.

Still inside the dense smog and having his car pelted by airborne debris, Ranma briefly thought he would have to forfeit the match just to save his car from being turned to scrap metal. He immediately shook those negative thoughts out of his head and fired his heavy rockets blindly as a final attack.

The reason being that the white smog severely limited his vision along with Ryoga's. Thus the ground hugging cloud actually became a mini fog of war.

Fortunately for him, the Hauberk's 50mm heavy rockets had saved the day as they both crippled the Morningstar's power plant and mine dropper almost simultaneously with near hits.

The white smoke was eventually blown away by a passing gust of wind, revealing the winner of the duel and the Albany Fall Classic - Ranma Saotome and his car, the Hauberk Custom

The crowd went wild as they had witnessed one of the most intense autoduels this side of the Mississippi.

As the Morningstar was being towed away for repairs, Ranma and Ryoga had shared a good ribbing over the radio. Both drivers had taken off their helmets and waved at each other. This had proved how much good friends they have become through the years of being rival auto duellists.

Afterwards, Ranma had wheeled his beloved dueling machine to its designated repair bay to lick its own wounds and reload its ammunition belts.

The clean up crew quickly entered the arena proper to clear it of littered shrapnel and stray pieces of concrete that were loosened in the earlier fight.

-oOo-

As soon as Ranma had exited his car and closed the door, he was glomped by none other than his excited wife, shoulder-length blackish-blue hair flying behind her.

"Uh, Akane." He croaked desperately, waving his arms around.

"Yes, dear." Akane had answered joyously, obviously still on cloud nine.

"I-I...n-need t-ta...breathe," he choked out, well-chiseled face turning blue. She had let him go but not without hitting him upside the head first.

"What was that for?" Ranma exclaimed, as angrily as he could get while gasping for air.

"That was for making me worry, you jerk." she said while wagging her forefinger at his face.

Having just recovered his breathing, Ranma said with a smirk. "I still won, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but thanks to you, the Hauberk almost got totaled!" the blue haired woman retorted sharply, indicating the heavily damaged duel car with her right hand.

"She still got through, didn't she?" he commented with pride, patting his damaged machine's roof with his free hand.

Akane was about to continue dressing him down but found herself mollified by the fact that the Hauberk Custom was still drivable amidst the heavy damage it had taken from the round robin arena battles and its latest battle in the arena.

As an afterthought, Ranma had also given his wife a quick kiss on her left cheek. Although the said act was more like a conciliatory move before he had locked the car's driver side door.

Taking her husband's gloved hand; Akane led him to his dressing room three doors down the now deserted and dimly lit hallway.

"Almost, dear." Her voice was almost a whisper. "Almost."

"Don't worry, honey." Ranma answered as he tried reassuring his wife. She had given him a perplexed look in response.

"I'll be more careful next time," he promised huskily while quickly pulling her closer to him by her slim waist.

"Be sure that you do," she replied in her bedroom voice, amber orbs sparkling with anticipation. Her armored arms were already encircling his similarly armored waist.

They had just stopped in front of Ranma's dressing room, and were just about to kiss each other senseless when…

"Ahem."

A third voice had suddenly echoed from the shadows.

A well-built and tall older man with spiky salt-and-pepper hair, wearing gray military fatigues and shiny black leather shoes, had stepped out of the darkness and into the rays of the waning sun coming through the AION windows. The briefcase in his large right hand had jiggled at the sudden movement.

He then greeted the red-faced couple, who had disengaged from their hug and turned away from each other in an instant.

"Uh h-hi, Colonel Goku." They stuttered, eyes in every direction except at each other.

"Heh. Didn't see you there, sir." uttered Ranma after a beat, completely baffled and disappointed by the sudden turn of events.

"You know, there's a nice hotel jus' a few blocks down the street." Goku smirked, ebony eyes twinkling with mischief.

"That's not funny," went the peeved reply in stereo.

"Whoa, hold on you two." appeased Goku, large and wrinkled hands held up in a placating gesture.

"I already get a lotta of the same flak from Gohan and Videl back home," He added, mumbling some incoherent words that suspiciously sounded like no sense of humor or something.

"How're they doing, sir?" inquired Akane in the hopes of changing the subject.

"For starters, Chi-Chi's still worried that I might get killed in battle even though I am always in front of a desk, Gohan's already finishing college; same with Videl. Both of them are dreaming of being one of the top ranked tag-team auto duelists in the country like you guys." said Goku, pride evident in his face and tone of voice.

"Don't we –oof." Ranma's sarcastic retort was interrupted by his wife's elbow burying itself in his stomach.

"Last but not least, Goten and Trunks were more than anxious to get their student driver's license." Goku continued, joyously.

"I still wonder why though?" he mused, scratching his head with his left hand. Ranma and Akane sweat dropped at the Colonel's sudden bout of clueless-ness.

"Oh well, back to business. I 'ave a job for you," Goku said simply, all traces of earlier humor gone.

"What's the mission, sir?" said Ranma, his curiosity piqued by the sudden change of attitude of his former commander.

"I want you two ta deliver a courier package for me," said the dark haired colonel.

"For whom will the package be delivered, sir?" Ranma asked again.

"Colonel Soun Tendou of the 101st armored brigade of the Massachusetts Militia, of course," answered Goku in a matter of fact way.

"What's Dad got to do with this?" Akane said incredulously.

"You'll find out when you meet him in your friend's truck stop near Boston."

"Hmm, it must be somethin' really serious with both you and dad involved." Akane had voiced her thoughts since she was getting a bad feeling about this.

"More than you'll ever know, Akane-chan. More than you'll ever know," said Goku mostly to himself, his whole countenance showing a weird mixture of short lived happiness followed by resigned disgust all within a brief moment.

"So will you guys take the job?" he asked, hope flashing in his eyes.

"Of course, I will." exclaimed Akane, eager to see some action and still see both her father and her old mentor and friend at the same time.

"How 'bout you, Ranma?" Akane said as she had turned to ask her husband who for some reason seems to be in deep thought.

"Ranma?" She tried again, a little louder this time.

"Ranma?" she tried a third time much louder, this time her well known temper was slowly getting the better of her.

"RANMA?" she yelled furiously, eyes igniting in auburn flames.

"Huh? What? What?" uttered Ranma, caught completely unaware. His mind had wandered to how he would win in the New York Open which would start in a week's time while his former commander was rambling.

"You idiot!" she screeched, appalled at her husband's bumbling reaction.

"Sorry, everyone. I must 'ave been daydreaming or somethin'." He said guiltily, eying the cracks on the cement floor near his scuffed leather shoes.

"Alright, you're forgiven. For now, anyway." Akane said with a huff, still unconvinced. She knew that Ranma wanted to win the New York Open for reasons she still could not imagine.

"So?" she inquired, eagerly.

"So what?" he repeated, teasingly.

"So are ya going or not in this mission?" she quizzed him, having enough of his mind games.

"It sounds too easy to me. No challenge at all," He said smirking. Again she hit him upside the head, only harder.

"Now what was that for?" Ranma yelled, pain evident in his tone.

"Get in the program, why don't you?" Akane roared, face turning crimson in anger.

"Excuse me, you randy lovebirds. I'm still here y'know," interrupted Goku as he smirked at them with his arms crossed.

The humorous scene before him had reminded the grizzled warrior of the time when he and Chi-Chi were just newlyweds. 'Ah, young love.' he thought with a chuckle.

"Sorry, Colonel." the pair apologized and blushed madly at his accurate description of them.

"Good, let's get back on track." Goku said eager to finish the conversation.

"Ranma, what do ya think?" he then asked the raven-haired pony tailed duelist.

"Well, Colonel. If she's in, so am I." replied Ranma, his blue eyes with specks of gray showing a mixture of resigned disgust at losing a chance to compete in the New York Open, anxiety at meeting his old friend and mentor along with his father-in-law, and wonder at why they were assigned to a simple courier mission in the first place.

"Good," said Goku, grateful that the two duelists had agreed to his request. He did not have enough time to find a replacement if they refused the mission, not that they could find a better one anyway.

"I knew you'd both understand," He added, visibly relieved.

Spotting a wooden table left leaning against the wall nearby, the spiky haired commander had walked towards it and placed his briefcase there. He then opened the briefcase before motioning the couple to come closer.

Goku had drawn from it two plastic cards, similar in size and shape to a credit card of today.

"Here are your passes," He said while giving both plastic cards to the couple who were now standing in front of him.

"You're to report at the New York Militia office at Fort Coswell to receive the package and a voucher for 50,000 dollars this evening. Tommorow morning, head straight to Thunder Tofu's Truck Stop. Be there by noon since it's only 150 miles from here, most of it in the freeway. I'll inform both Fort Caswell and Soun of your imminent arrival, " Goku added as he closed the briefcase shut .

The couple whistled at the large amount involved then gasped at the rush to deliver the package.

"Quite a hefty sum, don't ya think?" asked Ranma, puzzled at the high pay for a simple courier mission.

"And in a real hurry too." added Akane.

"Well, it's really important to us so money's no object and we have also a very strict timetable." Goku said simply. However, the serious expression in his ebony eyes told them that this is not the time or place for such discussions.

"I see," both youths said quickly, understanding the importance of the mission.

A quick salute later, Colonel Goku left for his New York militia office in New York City with his briefcase.

-oOo-

Thirty minutes after Goku left, Akane had deposited the day's winnings ( 6,000 dollars) and an additional 20,000 dollars to their joint Autobank account, in a designated Autobank teller machine a block away from the arena before heading back.

Ranma was waiting for her just outside the arena repair bay's front door, after he kept the shiny trophy in the trunk of the Hauberk. She quickly noticed that he was pacing like a caged tiger, a sure sign that he was stressed about something. He looked absolutely livid as she came closer to him.

"Hi, hon." She greeted him sweetly with a kiss on the cheek as she stood on tiptoes. As she earlier predicted, Ranma's whole body shook with rage.

"Why did ya sell the Hussar Custom, Akane?" he screamed at her face, fists clenching in unbridled anger.

"You don't have to shout, Ranma." She replied huffily, as she had shaken the ringing of her ears.

"Besides, I had to sell it since the cost to repair the Hauberk is too much for our meager winnings thus far." she added, trying not to match his anger with her fiery own.

"Oh, really? Well I remember a certain tomboy usin' much of our savings fer some frilly dresses ta wear at her friend's stupid wedding."

"RANMA, YOU IDIOT !"

An earsplitting scream of pain was heard through out Albany, a second later.

It had scared the pants off of a group of pigeons, suddenly taking flight from their perches at the Empire State Plaza, a full kilometer away from the arena.

-oOo-

Ten meters away from "ground zero" and just outside a souvenir store, Ryoga Hibiki had wiggled a finger in his right ear, along with everyone else there, before chuckling quietly. This did not escape the notice of his brown haired female companion who was completely taken aback at the sudden yell. He had simply explained that it was probably Ranma who had shouted just now.

"What makes ya think that it's even him, Ryoga-Honey?" she asked curiously.

"Elementary, my dear Ukyo Hibiki." He answered, still snickering.

"It's because I recognize his voice and evidently, Akane still has that mallet of hers." Ukyo shrugged her shoulders, not getting the joke.

"Why do men act like jerks anyway?" she asked partly to herself.

"Maybe to get the girls' attention?" Ryoga joked lamely than rolled on the ground laughing at its corniness.

In doing so, he did not notice his brown haired wife pull out her super sized stainless steel spatula from seemingly out of nowhere.

"RYOGA, YOU IDIOT !"

A second and louder scream of pain was heard in the city, two seconds later. Windows in nearby buildings had shattered as if they were hit by a ground hugging sonic boom.

After she had shaken the ringing off her ears and kept her spatula with a deformed blade to god knows where, Ukyo had dragged her still unconscious husband (a huge lump evident on his black haired noggin') towards their newly fixed duel car.

Everyone within five meters of them had either left quickly, ignored the two, or just gave knowing smiles as they shook the ringing of their own ears.

-oOo-

Back at the repair bay, ten minutes after Ryoga's own scream of pain:

"Wake up, you idiot." yelled Akane while roughly shaking her husband by his broad shoulders.

"Ok, Ok, I'm up already." said Ranma as he slowly rose from his spot on the ground and yawned loudly.

"I jus' talked to the mechanics and they fixed the Hauberk as best as they could." said Akane, her face glowing in excitement.

"Really, that's great." said Ranma, his own face brightening. He headed toward his parked duel car at a run, his slightly shorter wife trailing him every step of the way.

A quick inspection revealed that although the car was still not fully repaired, it was road ready. The couple had boarded the Hauberk and Ranma turned the key in the ignition.

Akane, meanwhile, had inspected all the weapon gauges. She was satisfied to see that all weapons are fully repaired and armed.

After a few minutes warming up, they had departed for Fort Coswell, ten miles south from the city limits.

* * *

Fortune Hunter here, back with the re-edited Fuel's Gold. I made a few changes here and there to make this fic more reader-friendly (I hope.)

By the way, Anime Car Wars is actually a fusion crossover between various anime and the Car Wars game book series with some elements borrowed from the four part comic mini-series Car Warriors of Epic Comics. All of which I do NOT own.

I also do not own Empire State Plaza. That place belongs to the City of Albany, New York.

Anime Car Wars can also be viewed as an Alternate Universe for some animes (like Dueltrack will be for Medabots, Badlands Run will be for Digimon, etc.).

This would make the characters featured in these stories - a bit out of character. That, and almost every anime character featured here is American with Japanese descent.

Of course, some will either be of Chinese descent like Xian Pu and Mu Tsu in this chapter, French descent like Trowa Barton and Catherine Bloom of Chapter 4, and German descent like Thomas Schubaltz of Chapter 5, among others.

If I made a few mistakes on their ancestry, let me know. I just got the idea from their names and some online (and off line) sources.

Pairings are: Ra x Ak, Ry x Uk, M x S, and implied G x CC & G x V.

And now a quick peek at the next chapter (Saturday Night Fights):

* * *

Ranma had promptly slammed the goon against the lightly composite wall in anger when he wasn't answered.

"Talk, damn you." he roared fiercely, blue eyes overflowing with fury.

The goon had shakily reached in his back pocket, drawing a jackknife just out of Ranma's sight.

* * *

Ok, that's just a glimpse of the next chapter scheduled for next week.

As with In Memoriam, reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated but still not necessary.


	2. Saturday Night Fights

If you are reading this, then you have just read chapter 1 of Fuel's Gold and actually liked it.

In this chapter, the M rating is in full effect since there will be an implied lemon, some violence, a bit of blood, and the usual potty mouths (including mine).

Be warned, there will be other character (OC) and self insert (SI) appearances in this chapter. If you don't like it but still liked the story, please wait until next week for chapter 3. This will be the only chapter in this story with both OC and SI.

I do not own Ranma 1/2, Car Wars or Dragon Ball Z. Ranma 1/2 belongs to Ms Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Communications. Car Wars belong to Steve Jackson while Dragon Ball Z belongs to Akira Toriyama.

I also do not own the weapons and equipment used here. Hell, I do not even own Spongebob Squarepants or the songs mentioned here either.

Pairings so far: Ranma/Akane, Mousse/Shampoo, and Ryoga/Ukyo with implied Goku/Chi-Chi as well as Gohan/Videl. Most pairings were already featured in the previous chapter.

All I ask is for you to read this and enjoy.

* * *

**"Didn't you know? Night maneuvers are a Hunter specialty." **- Rick Hunter, Robotech: The Sentinels - World Killers

Chapter 2 –**Saturday Night Fights**

Fort Coswell - Saturday, 7:00 PM

An uneventful hour had passed by before Ranma and Akane had arrived in Fort Coswell. The said military installation was basking in the reddish-orange rays of the setting sun by the time the Hauberk Custom had arrived at its ten inch thick steel gates.

Upon the Hauberk Custom's arrival at the bullet-riddled front gate, its occupants were challenged by a brawny guard, an M-4 assault rifle slung lazily over his left shoulder.

"Who are you and what is your business here?" the guard had asked them in an edgy voice.

Ranma replied as he had rolled down the driver side window and handed over the passes. "We were told by Colonel Goku Son to pick up a courier package for Colonel Soun Tendou of the Massachusetts Militia."

Akane had added with some hesitation. "Actually, I'm Colonel Tendou's youngest daughter. Please let us through so I can personally deliver the package to him."

The guard had gone back to his post to inform his superiors of the situation and ask for new orders. When the grumpy Military Policeman returned, he had let the Hauberk Custom into the base, as well as giving the Saotomes directions to the right office.

"Tough security, don't ya think?" said Ranma as he had gently stepped on the brakes to stop the car in front of the battle scarred five-story building just ten meters away from the gate.

Akane just shrugged her shoulders as she had unlocked and opened the gunner side door.

"Yeah, but from what I heard from the rumor mill, the ARF are really doing a number on the New York militia. So it's understandable," she replied simply as the couple had exited the vehicle and closed the car doors.

"ARF must be up to somethin', somethin' big." groused Ranma, as he had taken in the new information while locking the car doors.

"I certainly hope not," Akane said, worry seen in her russet eyes. She had motioned her husband to hurry up before entering the grayish and aging building.

-oOo-

Ten minutes later, the Saotomes had reached the office at the end of the third floor where the pretty red headed secretary inside had given them a sealed gray briefcase (Ranma had taken that one), a pay voucher and two passes in the form of plastic cards – a red and blue one (given to Akane), and a packet of orders which both duelists had read.

The content of the packet of orders was pretty much the same as what Goku had told them earlier in the arena only in militia terminology.

Both duelists were also given a typewritten form, which stated that they were activated as 1st lieutenants in the New York Militia and were fully responsible for the safe delivery of the package. They had read and signed their respective forms before returning it to the happy secretary.

Afterward, they had left the room for their car that was parked outside.

Akane had surrendered the red pass to the guard as she and her husband were leaving the base. She had also temporarily kept the blue one in the glove compartment to serve as their identification as couriers to Colonel Tendou (As it turned out, it was just a formality and had little if any real use at all.)

-oOo-

New Albany Hotel - Saturday, 9:00 PM

Back in the hotel where they were booked for the last three nights, the couple had eaten a late night dinner of algae and some beef briskets before leaving all their valuables (including the briefcase and blue pass) in the hotel safe at the ground floor.

In their spacious and clean hotel suite in the third floor, both Saotomes had taken quick and separate showers in the room's bathroom before going to bed.

The couple were about to sleep, when suddenly they had heard a loud banging on their wooden door followed by an equally loud voice identifying himself as room service.

At first, they were annoyed that some joker had ruined their much needed sleep. But when their combat instincts had warned them that something was out of place, the couple swiftly sprang to action.

Akane had quietly called the desk clerk from the phone lying on the cabinet on her side of the double bed. She first asked who ordered room service for them and after finding out no one did, had asked the desk clerk to call for the police.

Meanwhile, Ranma had brought out from their luggage - two Kevlar bulletproof vests (for both of them), a .357 Smith and Wesson revolver (thrown to his wife) and a .44 Magnum Desert Eagle for himself. All hand guns were already loaded with lethal rounds.

They patiently waited for "room service's" next move after they had hastily put on their Kevlar over their bed clothes and cocked their hand guns for immediate use. They did not have to wait long before the door was kicked in by two guys in leather. The latter two's appearance seemed to be like haggard punks from an old biker movie.

The first man was so big, his clothes had barely fit him. Even his stocky toes seemed to be sticking out of the front of his battle worn black boots. The other man was of lighter build with mismatched articles of clothing all over his skinny body.

'Whoa, these guys really should dress in front of a mirror.' Akane thought as she had studied their wardrobe.

Both thugs also wore bullet proof vests (that were either too tight or too loose on them) and were armed with an Uzi sub-machine gun and a Colt .44 Anaconda revolver, respectively.

"Drop the guns or you'll be sorry," shrilled Colt, trying to intimidate the couple to surrender.

"Yeah, do as he says." agreed Uzi, dumbly.

Both Saotomes had nearly laughed out loud as the fat guy with the Uzi sounded very much like Patrick of Sponge Bob Squarepants. They had hastily kept their composure before they do manage to enrage him.

"Whatever," replied our favorite couple as they started shooting. Uzi went down first, valiantly acting as cover for his escaping partner in crime.

Akane had stood over his unconscious and wounded form, her gun leveled at the intruder, as Ranma ran in pursuit of Colt through the lighted hallway.

-oOo-

Colt was about to reach the stairs before he got hit in the left thigh causing him to limp. Ranma had quickly caught up with the renegade, bare feet padding through the hallway. The biker had cursed his luck at being caught just as he was nearing the stairs, only three doors away.

"Who do you work for, scum?" Ranma said with a growl, grabbing the goon by the neck with both bare hands and lifting him several inches from the floor. In his haste, he had unknowingly dropped his side arm to the carpeted floor near his feet.

The blood from Colt's thigh wound slowly dripped down his black pant leg, staining his socks and patched jeans dark red. The goon had also choked on Ranma's throttle hold but otherwise stayed silent. He had vainly tried to pry the vise-like grip on his neck to no avail.

Ranma had promptly slammed the biker against the lightly colored composite wall in anger when he was not answered.

"Talk, damn you." he roared fiercely, azure eyes overflowing with fury.

The goon had shakily reached in his back pocket, slowly drawing a jackknife just out of Ranma's sight. Before Colt had even gotten a chance to stab his now unarmed tormentor and grab the latter's forgotten gun, two shots rang out from across the hallway.

The first one came from Akane's revolver; the second had come from the approaching private detective's H&K USP.45 Tactical pistol, its steel barrel still smoking from recent use.

The burly detective, who was hired by the hotel for situations like these, had actually wheezed for a second. Minutes earlier, he had run full speed up the stairs from the lower floors with his gun already in his hand.

The said detective had stopped to aim and shoot at Colt's head (the only clear shot he had at the moment) just as he had finally finished climbing the six flights of stairs. He then leaned his full weight on the wall right at the third floor landing for support since his stocky legs were about to give way from the whole run up.

As a result of the different origins of the gun shots, Colt was hit in the left shoulder and in the head just above the right ear. Blood had oozed from his wounds, staining the brightly colored wall with a dark red streak as Colt had slid to the floor upon his sudden release by a disgusted Ranma.

The middle aged detective, now flanked by two newly-arrived Albany police officers who had also taken the stairs, looked Asian. His large scarred brown hands were on his knees as he panted heavily. He had also less than politely declined the offer of the younger police officers to leave the crime scene to them as he slowly stood up.

In the meantime, Akane had caught up with her husband and panted a bit from her own sudden sprint from their room's doorway.

'He's definitely of Filipino descent,' they thought evenly as they had studied the approaching six foot tall detective from head to toe.

His ill-fitting dark blue sports coat barely covered his gray and sweaty T-shirt with a collar and the top of his faded black jeans. He had also wore black sneakers and a gray fedora, tilted to cover his intense brown eyes, as he surveyed the whole crime scene on his way to the waiting couple.

The two officers had gotten busy arresting Uzi (still unconscious in the couple's rented room's door) and covering Colt in a borrowed white bed blanket (now stained with fresh blood). One of the officers had also contacted the emergency medical team and the coroner for two separate pick ups.

"What the hell's goin' on here?" The detective thundered on the two heroes, freckled face red with barely controlled rage.

As the two goons were being escorted away - one of them carried in a black body bag and both their weapons confiscated, the couple had explained the whole situation while leaving behind the most probable reason for the whole ruckus.

While the couple were being grilled by the detective, the cops had also found a pamphlet calling for Boston to secede and another as a propaganda for the Anarchist Relief Front but they kept it as possible evidence.

Both pamphlets had previously fallen from the intruder's pockets as they were being hefted to the waiting stretcher or body bag.

"I hate ta say it, but I believe ya." The detective finally said, calming down with deep breaths. He then gave them two slightly damp playing cards given to him earlier when the cops had found them on the intruders' pockets as they were being frisked.

"Eight of Spades?" the couple asked in tandem as they had each pocketed one.

"Yep, turns out they had nothin' else on 'em. These fig nuts mus' be ARFs since they use playing cards as their IDs. They'll probably hold round boy o'er there fer breaking & entering and attempted homicide but that's it," The pudgy Fil-Am explained, before yawning loudly to the side without even covering his mouth.

He then bid them farewell before turning around clumsily and leaving in the direction of the elevators.

"Thank you, Mr. umm…" Akane hesitated, unsure of the portly detective's name.

"Jus' call me Hunter, li'l missy." The detective replied in a weird New York accent as he had continued walking.

"Folks 'round here do," he added over his shoulder before reaching the elevator along with a little wave of his gloved left hand.

"Thanks again, Mr. Hunter." Akane tried again but was too late as said detective already rode the elevator back to the lobby.

"Let's go to bed, babe." Ranma requested, kissing his tired wife on her left cheek.

"Take a bath first. You smell funny," she said in a tired giggle.

-oOo-

New Albany Hotel - Sunday, 6:00 AM

The newly risen sun had shone brightly through a permaflex window pane and the flesh toned curtains behind it. It continued its way inside a third floor suite (across the hallway from the one where a gunfight took place the night before) of the New Albany Hotel, bathing the naked couple slumbering in the double bed with its warm rays.

The blue-haired woman was the first to stir. She had tried to get off the bed but a tanned muscular arm prevented her from doing so.

"Akane...please...go...back...ta... bed," mumbled the arm's groggy owner.

"Sorry, Ranma. Buisness before pleasure, I always say." Akane replied before playfully swatting her husband's bare thigh making him let go of her regretfully, groaning all the while.

Barely covered in a small towel, Akane had retrieved her wardrobe composed of a blue T-shirt, khaki pants, white socks, and matching gray bra and panties from her luggage along with her bathroom essentials.

She quickly ran for the bathroom upon seeing that her husband was beginning to stir awake.

-oOo-

Thirty minutes later, Akane had finished her shower and began to put on her attire then her improved body armor, black driving gloves, belt holster, and white flats.

Ranma, meanwhile, was currently singing "**We will Rock You**" by **Queen** in the hot water shower and not doing a good job of it either.

Akane had to cover her left ear with one hand, while closing her luggage and then holstering her S&W revolver on her hip with the other.

"Ranma, I'll meet ya in the dining room after you finish!" she yelled through the bathroom door.

"Ok. I'm also not deaf, y'know!" he replied loudly only to be ignored.

-oOo-

Akane headed directly to the dining room on the second floor. She then ordered the standard continental breakfast (composed of scrambled algae with virunella bread and a cup of coffee) served by the New Albany dining room staff.

Ten minutes later, Ranma had arrived fully dressed (improved body armor mostly covering his red T-shirt and blue jeans but not his brown Doc Martens, white socks peeking through the gaps between the shoes and armor, black driving gloves, and hip holstered Desert Eagle) and ordered the same breakfast as she.

The couple had chatted about last night's events while keeping the topic of the courier package a secret.

After settling their bill, they had picked up their luggage kept in their room. Akane had retrieved their valuables as it was Ranma's turn to inspect the car (still parked in the hotel's basement garage) before starting it up. The couple then stowed their gear in the trunk and the blue pass in the glove compartment before heading out.

-oOo-

Interstate 90 - 7:15 AM (Sunday)

Cruising the highway at seventy miles per hour and going south, the car radio was turned on by Akane, already pre-tuned to Emotion 98.3.

Obviously, Ranma did not approve of the sappy songs that his wife was listening to so he had turned the dial hastily only to hear "**Mambo Gozon**" by **Tito Puente** blaring loudly on the rear speakers.

"What the hell?" he exclaimed and had almost lost control of the car in surprise. The Hauberk had swerved into the opposite lane where another car was heading towards them from ninety meters away and closing in fast.

Ranma had turned sharply back to the right lane to avoid a possible head-on collision. Akane had chortled (despite being thrown around a bit in her seat) at the hilarity of her husband's antics since his face was as white as a sheet in the near-miss. Even his glare against her had lacked the needed potency.

'That's what you get fer changing stations without my approval,' She thought evilly as she had turned the dial back to Emotions.

The motorist they had nearly collided with had given them the bird as his gloved hand had gone out the open car window. Ranma had responded in the same way as the two vehicles had run off in opposite directions.

-oOo-

Having left Albany for a half-hour now, the Hauberk had turned east at the approaching junction entering New York Thruway, which crosses the Hudson river then rises to pass through Taconic mountains in a series of tunnels and gentle curves. Ranma had paid the toll as his car had entered the new tollway.

"Geez, they shouda make more tunnels 'ere." said Ranma as he had negotiated one of the said curves at sixty miles an hour.

"Less talkin', more drivin'." Akane retorted, eager to get out of the zigzag part of the highway. She hated the sudden G-forces trying to push her this way and that in her seat.

-oOo-

Western Massachusetts - Sunday, 9:00 AM

Soon enough, the Hauberk had reached the toll stop as they exited the New York Thruway on their way to the Massachusetts Turnpike part of the I-90 as the said car had already passed the state border itself at an elevation of 1,100 feet.

The exit toll booth attendant, a young woman with dark brown hair reaching halfway down her back; pretty gray eyes with brown specks; and a crisp new attendant's uniform that showed off her voluptuous upper body, was waiting for them at her station.

She was looking at Ranma's handsome face and well-defined body barely visible under the worn armor appreciatively as he was paying his toll, not noticing the telltale bulge of a wedding band on his gloved left finger.

"Hi, I'm Stacy Williams. What's your name and number, good-lookin'?" she purred lustily.

Ranma was taken aback by the toll attendant's brazenness so he just paid the fare and waited for his change. On the other hand, Akane had acted indifferent on the outside but was really steaming on the inside.

'How dare that hussy flirt with my husband?' she mentally seethed.

The blue haired young woman quickly thought of an idea. She slowly unbuckled her seat belt and removed her left glove. After that, Akane had leaned suggestively on her husband's shoulder, and wrapped her own armored arms around his neck.

In doing so, Akane had showed her own golden wedding band at the shocked attendant.

"Let's go, Ranma-honey. Time's a wastin'," she cooed in her husband's reddening right ear as she re-wore her glove before returning to her seat and buckling up as well.

A fierce blush had covered his face before he replied. "S-sure, dear."

The black car had taken off like a bat out of hell. It left behind a still stunned Stacy, her mouth making an O shape. The coins in her dainty left hand had fallen on the toll booth floor near her gray pumps with metallic chinks.

-oOo-

Miles away from the toll booth, Akane had belatedly realized what she had done. Ranma had by then slowed down the Trans-Am to highway speed limits as the terrain have leveled a bit.

"I - I'm sorry for doing that to you, Ranma. She just makes me so jealous," she said profusely while tears ran through her cheeks.

Ranma had to agree privately that it was very inappropriate and maybe even rude. Yet if she had not done it, Stacy would have gone even further with him. Lord knows, he could not say no to a woman. That is why he was secretly glad that she did what she had done earlier.

"That's ok, 'Kane. I married you for you, faults and all," The ponytailed young man cooed to his wife as he had pulled her close with his free arm.

The blue haired duelist had leaned as far as she could (seat belts not withstanding) on his armored shoulder, staining it with fresh tears.

"You make me so happy, Ranma. These past two years are definitely the happiest years of my life," Akane said with a few hiccups, puffy eyes awash with tears.

"There, there. I promised everyone that I won't make you cry, didn't I?" he said, wiping her tears with his gloved right forefinger. She nodded, still crying a bit.

The song **Broken Wings** by **Mr. Mister** had filled the air adding to the sentimentality of the moment.

Fernando's voice was currently ignored as the lovers hugged one another (both seat belts already detached) as the car was temporarily set to "Auto Cruise". It was then that the couple had noticed that another car had been following them for some time now. The romantic spell was broken easily, immediately replaced by one of anxiety and fear.

"What do you think, Ranma? Is it the ARFs?" Akane asked apprehensively as she had buckled up and grabbed the popped up black joystick with triggers for the car's weaponry.

"I dunno. Let's jus' lose these nitwits, 'Kane." answered her husband in the same manner as he too had buckled up. He had also set the the car's autopilot program back to "Manual".

"Ok," The female half of the Saotomes said as the targeting computer screens had come to life with a hum.

Ranma had sped up only to realize that the chasing car had matched their speed while still keeping them within striking distance.

"It's those damn ARFs again. I can see their symbol (a circle with an A in the center) on their car's hood," he cursed loudly.

"They never give up, do they?" Akane asked partly to herself.

"Hang on, dear. This is goin' ta get a bit bumpy," Ranma said in a commanding voice while flooring the accelerator.

The digital readouts from the speedometer began to flash rapidly as the Hauberk had gained speed. The G-forces had pushed the couple further into their seats at the sudden acceleration.

A brief chase had ensued with both cars zigzagging the newly entered Massachussets Turnpike, avoiding other vehicles and a few rounds of various ammunition fired upon them by their irate drivers.

After a while, the chasing car, a Joseph Special, had given up, mostly because it nearly crashed a General Motors car with linked autocannons in front (An Impala) off the road, sparking a fight between them.

"Heh, losers." commented Ranma, while Akane had just blown a raspberry at the stupidity of some ARFs.

The Hauberk slowed down to highway speed once again to avoid further accidents. The car's dashboard had also recalled its gunner joystick as it reverted from combat mode.

-oOo-

Half an hour later, the Saotomes had seen a pretty hitchhiker with light brown shoulder-length hair holding up a cardboard sign that says: "Home to Zech's" at the side of the road.

What had struck Akane as different was her attire. She did not wear any armor at all. Instead, she wore a blue denim shirt and skirt combination with matching white socks and sneakers. Right now, parts of her attire was wet with some perspiration.

The couple had argued a bit before choosing to help the hitchhiker since the temperature outside is a humid 85° Celsius. Akane had to resort to her secret weapon – her puppy dog eyes - to win the argument.

* * *

Alright, that ends Chapter 2. My sincere apologies if the gun play, fluff scenes and character descriptions are still bad. This is the best I can do right now.

I can try to improve it in later chapters but it may delay the posting by a whole week for each chapter since I am very busy with my day job. Also thanks to Distant Storm for the word bluenette. It helped a lot.

For now, here is a sneak peek at chapter 3:

* * *

Akane had quickly gone to her husband's side, FAL-2 pulse laser rifle primed for battle. Neither one had pursued the wounded man. Instead, they began examining the car for clues.

Relena, meanwhile had entered the Hauberk and shut the door quickly as per instructions given to her earlier by the older girl as they had separated.

The couple was still examining the ditched car when a spark made by a fired rifle round ignited the liquid causing an explosion that ripped the Hokkaido apart.

* * *

As before, reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated but not necessary.


	3. Old friends, New missions

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the third chapter of Fuel's Gold. It is in this chapter that we will learn the contents of the courier package that is mentioned and fought about in the previous chapters.

We are likewise introduced to Relena Peacecraft, a little honey blonde hitchhiker who may be more then she what she seems to be. Is she really a spy for the ARFs or just an innocent girl trying to find her way home?

Fans of Soun Tendou rejoice for he is also introduced in this chapter. (hears crickets chirping in the background)

(Blushes in embarrassment) Ok... at least he is here with Tofu Ono and Awesome (Pantyhose) Taro.

By the way, I do not own Ranma 1/2, Gundum Wing or Car Wars. Gundum Wing belongs to Bandai/Sunrise. Ranma 1/2 belongs to Ms Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Communications. Car Wars belongs to Steve Jackson Games.

Legend: -oOo- - scene changes _words in italic_ - handwritten words

Read and enjoy, everyone.

* * *

For those who skipped Chapter 2, here is a brief summary:

The Saotomes had picked up a courier package held in a sealed briefcase in Fort Coswel. They had retired to their hotel only to be attacked by two ARF goons. After dispatching them, the couple were given playing cards, that were used as IDs by the said group, by the hotel's private detective.

The following morning, they had headed to Thunder Tofu's truck stop only to be chased by the ARFs in the open highway. The Saotomes had shaken them off before they had chanced upon Relena, standing on the side of the road.

* * *

As in the previous two chapters, reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated but still not necessary. Besides, I would rather you just read this chapter and enjoy it.

* * *

**"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."** - The Bible , Hebrews 13:2

Chapter 3- **Old friends, New missions**

Central Massachusetts – 9:45 AM, Sunday

The Hauberk Custom had screeched to a halt only a meter away from a well-dressed yet unarmored honey blonde hitchhiker. Said hitchhiker had jumped away in surprise, abruptly dropping her sign to the ground in her panic.

Akane had disembarked from the car, moved her seat and motioned for the girl to enter as she had apologized for the sudden stop, so they could both escape the muggy heat.

With comfort winning over her better judgment, the girl hesitantly had taken her sign and entered the car. The older girl had followed, returning her seat to the proper position and strapping herself in before slamming the door shut.

The car's engine had ground to a running start before slowly accelerating to highway speeds. Unlike the calm weather outside, storm clouds of a different kind were beginning to form inside the car.

"What's yer name, kid and why are ya standing out there in this god forsaken weather?" said Ranma, a little suspicious about the circumstances that brought the girl to their path.

In the back of his mind, he had suspected a trap by the ARFs since he knew that they were desperate enough to try anything now.

"My name is Relena Peacecraft, sir. I was jus' visiting a friend living nearby, but it seems my ride back to Boston left without me." The girl had answered testily since she did not like Ranma's tone of voice.

"C'mon, Ranma. Give her a break, alright?" Akane had told her husband. He only snorted in reply as his blue eyes had remained on the road.

Turning her attention to the hitchhiker in the rear seat, Akane had again apologized for what happened earlier.

"Hi, Relena. My name's Akane Saotome and the jerk over there is my husband, Ranma." She added, while thumbing the amused driver.

"I'm no jerk, ya tomboy." Ranma retorted as a crooked smirk had formed on his lips.

"In that case, I'm no tomboy either." She talked back while fighting the urge to slug him lest causing the car to lose control again.

-oOo-

As they were traveling, the girls had chatted a bit while Ranma drove silently. Relena had told them that she was waiting for ride home when they arrived, tires screeching.

The weather outside was both hot and humid and the land had offered little to no shade since it was level plateau as far as the eyes could see. Trees native to this region were scattered sparsely throughout the rolling land, although a few forests still abound here and there.

Most of the tree's trunks were splintered by bullets shot by both bored travelers and drifters.

The houses in this particular county were few and far in between. This section of Massachusetts used to be farm country, but now only cattle and other stock animals roamed the lands. Each stock animal had searched for enough grass to fill their bellies to last the whole day. Then they start looking again somewhere else the following morning.

Only a few were hunted down since the cattle is protected by either their owners or by "concerned environmental groups" who play sheepdog with the roaming food supply.

-oOo-

Twenty minutes after Relena had joined the couple, a junky mid-sized car (Hokkaido) was seen pursuing the Hauberk at high speed and thus picked up by the leading car's long range radar. But the said car's three occupants were so busy talking or keeping an eye on the road, the former had almost gone unnoticed.

A couple of machine gun flashes had signaled the first shots of the upcoming battle. The Hauberk had gotten a couple of hits in its hind lights before Akane had retaliated with the now armed heavy rockets.

The said rear weapons' titanium pylons had flushed out while the damaged rear lights was pulled upward and inward towards the car's reccesses.

Sadly, only one rocket had connected via splash damage since it was almost evaded by their pursuer. The Hauberk's occupants had realized that the man on the wheel was very skilled in his craft.

Ranma had sped up trying to lose his newly-acquired tail while Akane had tried her best to cripple the Hokkaido with recoilless rifle fire but missed significantly. Behind them, Relena simply held onto Akane's seat in front of her, a little anxious at the sudden attack.

The two vehicles' speeds had peaked at 100 miles per hour, as the road went straight for a good twenty miles with no incoming traffic. Luckily for the lead car's occupants, the enemy was not able to get a hit on them as well.

Evasive maneuvers had proved futile in shaking the pursuers off their backs. Akane was slowly getting frustrated with each passing minute. In her fury, she had grabbed a M-67 fragmentation grenade from the glove compartment, pulled the pin, and threw it out the hastily-opened window right into the oncoming car before shouting "Fire in the hole!"

BOOM!

The sudden explosion did a lot of damage to the Hokkaido's windshield and hood. The windshield had exploded into a thousand pieces spraying the three occupants of the Hokkaido with massive amounts of glass slivers.

At their current speed, it would have been fatal for the ARF members if not for their worn body armor. All three occupants of the Hokkaido still suffered from a lot of tiny gashes from the unarmored parts of their bodies like the neck and wrists. In his panic, the driver had lost control of the car, swerving it into a nearby ditch.

The Hauberk had made a sudden bootlegger's reverse and moved slowly in the direction of the ditched vehicle until it was a short distance away from the other vehicle before stopping completely.

-oOo-

"Nice work, hon. You got 'em but good." said Ranma as he had lifted the hand brakes.

"Nah, that was jus' plain luck." Akane responded with a blush as she had taken off her seat belt.

"I wonder what they're after," Relena thought aloud, blonde eyebrows furrowed in a questioning manner.

"Let's have a look-see," Ranma said simply in response. All three had exited the car.

Ranma then headed for the other car, motioning the girls to stay nearby their own, just in case. He had noticed the driver (the passengers being long gone) doing something suspicious beside the ditched Hokkaido. Drawing his Desert Eagle, he yelled. "Freeze, scumbag."

The man had frozen in panic at sudden shout. He had quickly splashed some sort of violet liquid all over the car, before sprinting for the safety of the under-bush; almost successfully avoiding Ranma's incessant and loud shooting before disappearing from sight.

A trickle of blood had oozed from the man's grazed left shoulder, leaving a trail of red drops noticeable in the green foliage.

Akane had quickly gone to her husband's side, FAL-2 pulse laser rifle primed for battle. Neither one had pursued the wounded man. Instead, they had begun examining the car for clues. Relena meanwhile had entered the Hauberk and shut the door quickly as per instructions given to her earlier by the older girl as they had separated.

The couple was still examining the ditched car when a spark that was made by a fired .416 Barrett rifle round ignited the viscous liquid causing an explosion that ripped the Hokkaido apart.

Both duelists had quickly crouched on the ground, avoiding the flames and debris thrown by the exploding car. Ranma, had also instinctively shielded his wife with his own body.

Standing up and dusting themselves off, they had been thinking that it was probably caused by dynamite left in the car and the mysterious liquid sprayed over it (Upon later examination by the local authorities, it turned out to be gasoline).

Relena had by then exited the Hauberk, and began examining a big wooden box which landed three feet in front of the car with its lower end broken on impact. The box (a military surplus case) had contained some machine gun ammo and plenty of crudely printed pamphlets.

She had commented that as far as subversive materials go, the pamphlets was pretty tame stuff. The pamphlets themselves had called for general strikes, getting the US out of Boston, telling people not to vote since it would encourage the government, etc.

The younger woman had further explained that these pamphlets were distributed near colleges in Boston and were called arfsymp since those people that distribute them were very sympathetic to the Anarchist Relief Front's cause.

"In that case, these guys mus' be ARFs since they hold a lot of these rags." said Akane as she had held a hand towards the girl's face.

"Good point," said Relena as Akane had a valid point in her comment.

-oOo-

Five minutes later, the three adventurers had continued their journey (both the arfsymp and spare machine gun ammo were quickly stowed in the trunk while the crate was left in the bushes beside the road).

"Can you guys tell me why are we headin' for Thunder Tofu's Truck Stop?" Relena had suddenly asked, her curiosity having gotten the better of her.

The couple had looked at each other warily before Akane answered for both of them.

"Sure. Ol' Thunder Tofu was our friend ever since Ranma and I were little kids. He had used to treat our bruises after a day of playing. He said he has learned first aid quickly in his days as a stunt driver and clown, which brought him nationwide fame nowadays. That's why we call 'im Doc sometimes. He had even taught us what we knew about auto dueling. It has been two years since we last met him back at our wedding."

Ranma added, "He retired about five years ago ta go into the lucrative truck stop business and continuous ta do so today. He also had a major crush with Kasumi but sadly, it never came to be. Ow!"

Akane had elbowed him in the side at his revelation.

"What gives, Akane? It was true, y'know?" he exclaimed, his voice betraying his bitterness.

"Ever heard of too much information, Ranma?" Akane growled back.

"Ok, ok, jeez."

"Ya could meet him if you like, Relena. He won't bite," he said, in an attempt to change the conversation.

"Really, Ranma!" gushed Relena, excited at meeting a celebrity in person.

"Yup, even if we 'ave to drag him ta you hogtied." He had promised after a beat.

-oOo-

A five minutes later (11:05 AM), a shot up sign was seen. It says:

* * *

**THUNDER TOFU'S TRUCK STOP AND GRILL – NEXT EXIT **

The only place in Massachussets where grilled fish tastes heavenly. Free massage while your car is being repaired. Open 24 hours. Jalapeño ice cream also available for the little ones.

* * *

"Ooh, a massage. It can't wait for that especially since it's for free," Ranma said as his mouth had contorted to a huge grin.

"Very funny, Dear. I'll make sure you'll need it," Akane retorted, smirking evilly. Ranma's own grin had quickly turned to a frown.

'She wouldn't dare, would she?' Ranma thought, glancing at his wife every few minutes in fear to both girls' amusement.

-oOo-

The Hauberk had soon reached the truck stop. From their vantage point near the gate, its occupants could see that the whole truck stop was buzzing with activity. Militia and police were everywhere, doing routine checks, patrols, and what not within the truck stop's two mile perimeter.

"Wow, somethin' real big must be happenin' for these guys to be in any one place." mused Relena, taking the whole scene in.

"Yeah, it is. " replied Ranma absently. "The ARFs are supposed ta be on their way to Boston today."

"I think you're right. I even heard some of those rumors myself," said Relena quietly.

At the five inch steel gate, they were immediately challenged by another beefy militia guard. The Saotomes had realized he was the younger brother of the guard in Fort Coswell when they had seen the name patch sewed to his uniform. The couple in front had also noted that their glares were eerily similar.

"Halt, who goes there?" The said guard growled rather harshly.

"Ranma Saotome with a special package for Colonel Soun Tendou," said Ranma while showing his blue pass.

"I am Colonel Tendou's youngest daughter, Akane Saotome-Tendou. Please let us through," Akane added with a honeyed tone.

"Alright, but what 'bout her?" asked the guard gruffly, indicating Relena with a cock of his head.

"She's with us. We'll take her to Boston as soon as we finish 'ere," Ranma replied with a grin.

"Jus' make sure she stays out of trouble. She'll also have to stay in the restaurant," the guard had commanded while giving Relena yet another pass.

"Yes, sir." all three had saluted jauntily. The guard had gone back to his post, informing the higher ups of the Hauberk Custom's arrival.

-oOo-

After dropping Relena at the restaurant, the couple headed directly for the main building, a two-story affair, just five meters away from the restaurant.

The guard, a young sergeant with medium build and dirty blond hair, had escorted them to Room 201 on the top floor while his friend took his post.

The three young militia men had chatted along the way.

"Gee, it has been a year since we last saw Dad. I wonder how's he doing?" Akane thought aloud.

"If you meant the Old Man, he's doing his best to stop the ARFs from creating havoc." the guard replied smiling.

"Thank you, Sergeant." Akane said, returning the smile.

-oOo-

The large conference room in question was at the end of the hallway on the topmost floor. It was turned into a mini-situation room with maps strewn in the walls, papers cluttered in the tables with militia officers studying them and finally a two-way long distance radio set up in the rightmost corner of the room.

The radio's aluminum antennae had protruded through the open window beside it.

A battery powered clock hung on the wall opposite the door showed that it was 11:30 AM. Underneath it is a crude handpainted sign saying: "This clock will never be stolen since everyone is watching it."

As the couple had entered, they immediately had saluted Colonel Tendou who saluted back. While Ranma was handling the blue pass and the briefcase to his father-in-law's aide, father and daughter had met in a very emotional embrace.

"Akane, my dear daughter. I miss you so much. How are Kimiko, and your sisters doing?" Soun exclaimed in a dash of emotions.

"They're ok, Dad. We all miss you. When will ya be home?" Akane said in a rush.

"I'll be able to go home after defending this truck stop and rounding up the ARFs. Please be patient," Soun said.

He then noticed Ranma holding his ponytail as he always did whenever he is nervous.

"Ranma, thank you for taking good care of my little girl." Soun said with a solemn expression.

Akane could be heard in the background yelling "Dad! I'm already 25 years old! I am **not** a little girl!"

The militias in the room were trying to hold their laughter at the young lady's distress, and then averted their collective gazes when she had glared at them.

"No sweat, sir. I promised ya that I would protect her, didn't I?" Ranma answered, blue eyes glistening with fierce determination.

"Heh," grunted Soun, satisfied with both spoken and unspoken answers.

Now noticing the quiet laughter from his aides and the distinct coloration on Akane's cheeks, the salt and pepper colonel then cleared his throat meaningfully and called for sobriety.

"Now that the personal issues has been taken care of. Let's get to work," he ordered sharply as he had sat down. He had broken the seal before opening the briefcase placed on the table in front of him.

Taking a folder from the briefcase, he had browsed the pages saying "hmm" and "yes" a lot.

When Soun had finished reading, he had closed the folder and motioned to both his youngest daughter and son-in-law to come closer.

"Come here, Ranma and Akane, I want to show you both something," Soun commanded as he again had opened the folder and flipped through some pages. He had stopped at a crude handwritten message:

* * *

_Gabby: _

_You won't believe what we've got 'ere. Shorty and Jesse had tracked down a gasoline dump nearby. There are hundreds o' barrels here –five truckloads at least. This is going to make Operation Phoenix a real blast. _

_We're rollin' right away. _

_- Frank_

* * *

"Operation Phoenix as far as we can tell is an ARF plan to strike at police units and blow Boston into anarchy and chaos," Soun explained as he had placed the closed folder in his briefcase.

"We're pretty sure the ARF will come through here tonight or at least try to. Why? I will bet anything that they will use this truck stop as a recharging depot and we do not want that, now do we?" he added, looking sternly at everyone in the room.

"Sir, no sir!" was the crisp reply from across the room.

The colonel had signed the pay voucher handed to him by another aide and passed them along with the now empty briefcase to Akane.

He then said. "I know you both want to participate in the New York Open but please realize that we need both of you here. Me, more than anyone else here in this room."

"But wh-?" Ranma's query was again stopped by another gut shot by Akane.

"I understand, Father. They still have ta pay for what they did to us last night," Akane answered, gritting her teeth and silencing her about -to- protest husband with a scathing look.

"I don't follow you, dear." said Soun, scratching his well-groomed and short black hair with silver streaks with his wrinkled hand.

"Actually, she meant that the ARFs 'ave been bothering us since we had checked in our hotel last night." Ranma said in explanation, while handling his father-in-law a pamphlet he kept in his pocket.

"Some ARF goons had even chased us along our way 'ere," He added in a near whisper.

"Ah, now I understand." Soun replied at the newly revealed information.

"How about the hitchhiker that was with you earlier, does she know why you are here?" he asked, curious at her presence in the Hauberk Custom's rear seat.

"No, sir. We jus' told her about Tofu," Ranma replied simply.

"She had neither pursued the matter nor did she ask 'bout the courier package in the trunk," Akane added, her brown eyes signifying the truth

"Alright, I believe you. She's cleared from suspicion then," The colonel had told the couple before rubbing his black moustache in thought.

"I wonder how the ARFs got such privileged information," he had muttered to himself.

Filing this for later thought, Soun said aloud. "No matter, you are free to go."

"Taro!" Soun yelled at his aides standing behind him.

Yet another of his aides, a young man with short black hair in a crew cut saluted "Sir."

"Sergeant Taro here will draw up the papers," Soun explained, indicating to his aide.

"It will be some time before the battle begins, so why don't you take this-" Soun said as he had written a few lines on a piece of paper "-and get some time off. Just be back by 8:00 pm tonight," he then advised as he gave the hastily written note to his daughter.

"Maybe you can also invite the girl for a quick snack? Uh, what is her name again, dear?" Soun added, embarrassed that he did not ask for the hitch hiker's name earlier.

"Sure thing, Dad. She's Relena, by the way." Akane answered happily.

Ranma had signed the papers that Taro offered and was given a white pass in return.

A quick salute was shared by all three before they separated ways.

"By the way, you can all see Tofu, if you'd like." Soun shouted before the door closed, cutting Akane's reply.

-oOo-

"Gee, Dad's sure nice letting all three of us visit Tofu." Akane said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah, we even get ta keep our promise to Relena." Ranma agreed, obviously relieved to keep his promise with their younger friend.

Both Saotomes had continued to walk briskly on the second floor hallway on their way to the cafeteria.

Meanwhile inside the cafeteria, the girl in question had sneezed lightly. She then resumed her silent vigil in a table close to the windows, patiently waiting for her new friends.

When the Saotomes had entered the restaurant ten minutes later, Akane was glomped by an excited Relena, cerulean eyes overflowing with tears of happiness. The older girl had dropped the briefcase she was holding in total surprise.

Akane had gasped for air at the unexpected hug. Ranma, on the other hand, quickly picked up the dropped briefcase and turned around quickly to hide his quiet laughter.

A moment later, he had released Akane from Relena's amazingly strong hug. Akane had scolded the girl while her husband approached the counter.

A tall muscle-bound militiaman was manning the counter. Ranma had called Akane over to show the cook the note given to them earlier. The militiaman had scowled for a second but made all their orders. All three had enjoyed a hearty snack even if it was mostly militia food also known as slop.

-oOo-

Afterwards, the three friends had headed for Thunder Tofu's apartment above the garage. Ranma knocked the door lightly to let the good Doctor know that they were there.

"Who's there?" went a muffled voice from inside.

"It's us, Doc." Ranma replied using Tofu's old nickname.

"Who's us?" the voice retorted, sounding suspicious.

"Ranma and Akane, who else?" replied Akane, playing along. Thunder Tofu had quickly unlocked the door and let them in.

To Relena, Tofu had looked a little older than when he was on TV. He now wore glasses and his squared jawed face was filled with wrinkles while the exposed parts of his body were prominent with scars from his years of being a famous stunt driving clown. He had closed the door as soon as everyone entered.

"It's been a while since I saw you guys," Tofu remarked with his face glowing.

"Yeah, two years actually." responded Ranma.

"So how's the married life and…who's this lovely young lady?" Soun said as he had nudged Ranma's side, cocking his head at Relena who was hiding timidly behind the older girl. His gray eyes had twinkled with a hint of malice.

"It's ok, as long as the tomboy remembers not ta cook…" Ranma jokingly began before his left foot was stomped hard.

"Yow! What the hell was that fer, Tomboy?" the pony-tailed young man yelled as he had started to hop around a bit on one leg.

"That was fer insulting my cooking skills," retorted Akane, auburn fire again visible in her eyes.

"You 'ave cooking skills?" Ranma replied in a quasi-shocked manner as he had stopped hopping as his left hand went up to cover his mouth.

"Why you?"

Akane had brought out her powerful mallet from seemingly out of nowhere, to Relena's complete surprise.

Ranma had quickly changed tactics and went down on his hands and knees, groveling for his life or at least his consciousness for the next few hours. Akane had remembered it being called the "Crouch of the Wild Tiger" technique.

'I'm beginning to love this technique,' she had thought with glee. 'No wonder, Auntie Nodoka and Mom would force their husbands to do this. This is great stuff.'

In the midst of this "lover's quarrel", both Tofu and Relena were holding their stomachs from laughing too hard over the couple's antics.

Ranma had glared at them, embarrassed that they had to see that particular technique in action. A militiaman had called for quiet from his post in the garage below, where the Hauberk was currently being repaired. The laughter still died down on its own accord, minutes later.

Both Tofu and Relena were promptly introduced properly to each other after straightening each other up.

Afterwards, Tofu had gone to take a new set of improved body armor from his closet and laid it down on his bed. He hurried to the kitchen across the apartment and made some green tea.

His three guests had seated themselves in the lounge seats adjacent to the bed.

"Yo, Doc. Any ideas on why the ARFs are targeting your place? The Old Man didn't tell us the whole story," Ranma had asked to break the ice.

"Well then, I'll tell ya why." replied Tofu as he had served them tea.

"Two days ago, a New York infantrymen working for Intelligence intercepted the message you delivered to Colonel Soun." He started.

"Isn't that Colonel Brief's command?" Ranma butted in.

"Yes, it is. Anyway all I've been told that it's a big attack on Boston, though nobody knows the whole deal. Grapevine says that they've got plenty of loonies from across the country and the explosives to match. They had also found an old gasoline dump in New Hampshire. From what I heard, it was an old Army stockpile left by some unit or other to join the Free Oil Wars." added Tofu.

"Ah," was the visitors' single reply.

Tofu continued "The militia is posted on all approaches to Boston. Nobody knows where the push will come from. But your father, Akane, is convinced that they will go through here. Sometime tonight, he told me."

"Well then, let's make sure they'll regret it." Akane said with fierceness that is not unlike her.

"I knew you won't leave the Old Man alone," Tofu said as he had beamed with pride.

"Of course, we gotta protect you guys from scum like them." Ranma answered as he had patted his older friend's shoulder upon standing up.

"Besides, 'Kane wouldn't let me leave anyway." He added snickering.

"Not funny," Akane retorted sharply.

Tofu had laughed a bit before reaching over the spent teapot to clean it.

"I'll clean it. Mr. Ono. Who is Akane's father anyway and what's his beef with the ARFs?" Relena asked them, confused as she had taken the teapot and its teacups.

Akane had answered her in behalf of Tofu. "My father is Colonel Soun Tendou, Rel. He is the one in charge of defending this truck stop. He's also friends with both Colonels Goku Son and Vegeta Briefs. Colonel Goku was our commanding officer before we ended our tour of duty and got married. Colonel Briefs meanwhile is the commander of New York Intelligence."

Relena had thanked her for the tidbit before heading for the kitchen sink.

"Let me show, you two something." Tofu said as he had motioned to the remaining two. He had led them to a map of the truck stop taped to the wall to the right of his bed and a little behind.

He had explained in a low voice so only the three of them could hear. "I built an escape tunnel out under this place. Only a few people knew about this, maybe just two or three excluding me."

Using the map, he had pointed at a storage closet on the bottom floor of the main building.

"See this closet here; you can take out the floor panel. There's a tunnel there leading to a culvert under the highway-" His finger is now at a spot on I-495 just north of the interchange "here," He had explained.

"There's a grille across the culvert, but if you grab it, turn it to the right and pull it out, you can get out. You guys following me?"

"Yeah," they both chorused.

"Good."

They had returned to their seats, just in time for Relena to come back after cleaning the teapot and its matching teacups.

"The tea cups and teapot are all cleaned, Mr. Ono." she had chirped proudly.

"Tofu will be fine, Relena." he said with a deep sigh.

"Sorry, Mr. Tofu." Relena said in reply. Tofu had sighed again.

"Alright, it's time ta go. We still have to bring Relena home," Ranma said, as he had looked as his Casio digital watch.

-oOo-

After saying their good byes, the three first headed for the Autobank, where Akane had deposited their pay, then to the garage where the Hauberk Custom was now sitting, fully charged, re-armed, and repaired.

'It does pay to be a beloved daughter to a high-ranking officer. Thanks, Dad.' Akane thought happily. The Hauberk had headed out for its next destination, Boston.

* * *

Next, the Saotomes make a side trip for Boston to escort Relena home. Wait till you see her "family" in the next chapter. "Old man" is a term used by the military (or militia) for those with the highest rank (usually their commander) in the vicinity. In this story, he is Colonel Soun Tendou.

Also I do not want to insinuate that all food made in the military mess hall is "slop". I have have some cousins who also served in the Philippine armed forces and they did joke that some food they ate does fall under that category. If any one is insulted by this, I offer my humblest apologies.

For the Robotech fans out there, I have mentioned four minor characters from Robotech: The New Generation (Genesis Climber Mospeada being the original anime). Neither of which I own.

Yet another sneak peak, this time for Chapter 4:

* * *

Just past the intersection were the down-and-out areas or the slums. Both driver and gunner could feel the hairs on their necks rise with each block they had passed by.

As for Relena, she had remained calm as if she was used to this. The people that they had passed by had stared at them warily, each one of them itching to draw their hand weapons and shoot at the strangers that interrupted their quiet late Sunday morning.

* * *

With that done, see you in Chapter 4. Reviews and constructive criticisms are still appreciated but not necessary.


	4. Boston Illegal

OK, everyone. Three chapters down, this one and Chapter five left to go. This chapter also marks the debut of the other Gundum Wing characters in this fanfic but they will also be limited to this chapter only.

I also included two characters from Gundum Wing Episode Zero. Be aware of slight spoilers if you had not read it yet.

I also added one more character from Gundum X, another Gundum series in an alternate universe like Wing. Actually, they both debuted in the same year - 1995.

Disclaimer: I do not own Car Wars, Ranma 1/2, Gundum Wing, and Gundum X. They belong to their respective owners.

Pairings in this chapter: Ra x Ak, 2 x H, 3 x MU (implied), 5 x M, 6 x 9, and 1 x R near the end.

Enjoy the chapter. Reviews and constructive criticism are still appreciated but not necessary.

* * *

**"Home is where, when you have to go there/ They have to take you in." **- Robert Frost, Death of the Hired Man.

Chapter 4 – **Boston Illegal**

Boston Outskirts – Sunday, 12:30 AM

The Hauberk Custom had cruised the Massachusetts Thruway once again heading east. Boston was just fifteen minutes away at their current speed.

Minutes later, the Boston entry checkpoint was within the vehicle's occupants' collective sight. Unfortunately for them, only one lane out of three was open. Thus a line of vehicles had snaked from said tollbooth lane for a mile or so.

Ranma was grumbling the whole ten minutes it took for their turn at the booth.

-oOo-

As the Hauberk arrived at the toll booth, the toll booth attendant - an old man with a dignified mustache, looked hostile for some reason.

Ranma had guessed his age to be either in the late-fifties or early sixties. His blue uniform, obviously newly pressed, made him look sharp.

It was only when the man had noticed Relena in the back seat that his facial expression turned calm then changed to panic, all of which had been made in an instant.

"Miss Relena, please know that we all worry for your safety. If I had been here earlier, I would have personally stopped you. It is very dangerous out there," he cried in both relief and pent up fear.

"C'mon, Pagan. You of all people should know Zechs trusts me in these little 'missions'. Although, I would like to get my hands on Duo for not meeting me at the rendezvous point earlier. I would have broiled out there," Relena seethed, shuddering at the recent memory.

"I just saw him pass by about half an hour ago, looking very upset about something." Pagan replied, his oppositional fingers rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Carry on," he said as he deactivated the spikes, letting them in Boston city proper.

Ranma had obliged with the given order, still perplexed that there weren't even inspected at all. Both Akane and he were suitably impressed with Relena's connections.

-oOo-

"Hey, Relena. Can you explain who Zechs is? Is he a big shot or something?" Ranma said, not able to rein his own curiosity any longer.

Once again, he got hit by his fiancée, only this time it was upside the back of his head. Thankfully, the black car was still moving at a sedate twenty miles per hour as it had just entered the city proper.

"Do you have any manners at all, Ranma?" screamed Akane, horrified at the Saotome foot-in-mouth disease in action.

The other occupants had instinctively covered their ears at the sheer volume of her voice. Ranma even had to let go of the wheel for a brief second.

"I might as well admit it," Relena said to herself. "Zechs is actually the leader of the Hellriders and my big brother," she told the two evenly, her ears still ringing from the earlier shout.

"He's what?!" both Ranma and Akane yelled at her in shock. The car actually skidded for a bit for the second time that day.

"Ow, you guys sure can make a girl deaf." The blonde nineteen year old had groused as she shook the ringing off her ears again as she was uncovering them from her hands.

"Sorry, Rel. We were just surprised that you are related to the leader of a famous (or infamous) gang leader here in Boston," explained the older girl.

"Oh, it's no big deal." she said happily. "Actually, the real power is with his fiancée. I like her. She keeps him from going overboard at times."

"Well, guide us to your pad then." interjected Ranma as he had finally regained full control of the steering wheel.

-oOo-

With Relena providing directions, Ranma had guided the car through the streets of Boston. He also checked the charge indicator every few minutes to see if they need to top off along the way.

The first thing they did pass by was an affluent suburb where Akane was looking at the window excitedly, much like a child in a toy store.

The reason for her actions was that the houses there look like mansions crossed with maximum security complexes. The houses were magnificent looking but they were also surrounded by guards, security cameras, and emplaced or hidden booby traps and in some cases, even hidden weaponry.

Ranma had to remind her several times to stop squirming so much as the whole car was shaking with her movements. Relena had taken advantage of this situation by asking them if Akane squirmed a lot in bed too.

The immediate result was two blubbering adults, faces redder than a ripe apple, giving denials left and right on their sex life. It took a few minutes before things had returned to normal except for the backseat passenger still trying to keep from giggling while giving directions.

-oOo-

Soon they were passing through a middle-class neighborhood further inside the fortress city.

Relena now asked them if their neighborhood was similar to this one. Both had reminisced for a moment before they answered.

"Yeah, Rel." Ranma replied wistfully, his blue eyes still on the road. "This does remind me of our old 'hood in Baltimore, Maryland. The only difference is ours is nearer to the docks."

"Yup, great place for a morning jog and some katas with my best friend." Akane added, her brown eyes twinkling as she glanced at her partner in life.

Ranma simply smiled back at her as he had turned left at the next intersection per Relena's instructions.

-oOo-

Just past the intersection were the down-and-out areas or the slums. Both driver and gunner could feel the hairs on their necks rise with each block they pass by.

As for Relena, she remained calm as if used to this. The people they had passed by stared at them warily, each one itching to draw their hand weapons and shoot at those strangers that had interrupted their quiet late Sunday morning.

Each minute seemed like hours for the two duelists. Their knuckles had turned white with the way they gripped the wheel and joystick.

Finally, they passed the slums and went deeper into the Old Downtown area. The area in question was devastated during the Food Riots and never rebuilt.

Any place that could be used as living quarters was taken and quickly barricaded by its tenants. No surprise there, since it was pretty much an urban battle zone where the only rule is to survive.

-oOo-

After what seemed to be an eternity (actually only fifteen minutes) has passed, the Hauberk Custom had arrived at its destination, a multilevel parking garage building.

At first glance, it looks like an ordinary parking garage with some dried paint on its walls. A closer look reveals em-placed machine gun turrets and bikers, armed with AK-47s, either peeking at each opening or guarding the various entrances and exits - vehicular or otherwise.

"Here we are, home sweet home." said Relena, excited to be back home. Her friends could only gawk at the sight.

Pointing at the nearby entrance way, the teen added. "There's our way in, guys."

The Hauberk slowly entered the structure, starting down the parking ramp for the lower levels.

The two men at the entrance, each armed with AK-47s, had kept their eyes on them while keeping their pose as nonchalant as possible.

Also two rotating machine guns with a security camera in the middle that was placed in the ceiling tracked their every movement until the car was out of their sight.

-oOo-

As they were rounding out the corner for the next level also with cameras placed in strategic positions, several rows of armed and armored Harley Davidson motorcycles were seen in the glare of their headlights.

All bikes have shared a winged "H" symbol stenciled on their sides. Ranma had immediately recognized it as the emblem of the Hellriders.

From what he knew about them, he remembered them to be a tough gang, having several clashes with the Pulsars (another tough gang) for territory in this part of the city.

The police themselves having been looking for them for years but were still unable to locate their headquarters.

'Not that we would tell them, of course,' He thought darkly.

-oOo-

Turning yet another corner, a group of men and women dressed in a mixed get up composed of leather, denim, and body armor had blocked their path. At its center was a lanky fellow with long straight silver hair and sky blue eyes leveled to them in a death glare.

The car immediately went into a full stop. After which, both front passengers had alighted quickly for two reasons. The first was to show that they will not shoot and run, and the second was to allow their passenger to exit from her seat in the back.

Relena ran toward the group, with a speed that surprised all of them, before leaping at the tall figure. Both she and the tall fellow had fallen to the ground with a painful splat but were still in good spirits nonetheless.

The other members of the group just sighed and shook their heads ruefully at the ridiculous display.

"Hey, big brother. I did it," Relena said proudly.

"Yes, you did. Now, can you please get off me?" the man replied with a grunt.

"Oops, sorry." The blonde biker said in apology as they both stood up and brushed themselves off.

"I want you to meet someone, big brother." Relena added as she pulled the man toward the still idling car.

"Ranma and Akane, I want you guys to meet my big brother and leader of the Hellriders - Zechs Marquise, once known as Milliardo Peacecraft."

"Pleased to meet ya, Mr. Marquise. My name's Ranma Saotome," Ranma had politely greeted the Hellrider leader while shaking his hand.

"And this is my wife, Akane." he added as he snaked his right arm around his wife's slim figure.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Marquis." she greeted politely.

"Please call me Zechs, Mr. and Mrs. Saotome. There is no need to be formal with me. You have brought my little sister here safe and sound thus you have my eternal gratitude," he replied simply.

"Thank you, Zechs. But please call us Ranma and Akane," Akane said, blushing a bit.

"Alright, but there is no need to be modest. Quite a lot of us have heard of you," he said in a matter of fact manner.

The Saotomes were visibly shocked that their fame had gone this far.

Sensing their distress, Relena told her brother that they have to talk about Duo and the fact that he was late for their meeting earlier.

Zechs told the couple that they had to stay for lunch since it was the least they could do while their car was being recharged.

Ranma, speaking for both of them, answered in the affirmative and the blond siblings left.

Two young men followed. One of them, a midnight black-haired young man, was pulling his companion with waist long chestnut hair which was tied in a braid, by the arm toward the direction the siblings earlier headed.

The braided youth, on the other hand, was trying to break free of his friend's iron grip and was rather melodramatic as he was pulled to what he termed as "his doom."

Unknown to most of the people gathered, two well-hidden security cameras had recorded the braided boy's antics for future references (a.k.a blackmail).

They were out of earshot minutes later, much to the relief of those left behind.

The Saotomes chatted with the remaining bikers, who were surprisingly very easy to talk to. The conversation was soon joined by a woman in a dirty white lab coat and her assistant who just came from a doorway to their right.

The first person to introduce himself was the green-eyed young man at the far right of the group.

"Call me, Trowa Barton." he said in a quiet voice. He was easily recognizable by the brown uni-bang covering half of his face.

Nodding to his left, he added "and this is Wufei Chang, one of our martial art experts and resident justice freak according to a very reliable source." Almost everyone laughed at the joke.

The aforementioned male black haired biker with Oriental features had looked like he was about to explode but instead smiled evilly.

"Very funny, Barton. You and Duo should do a comedy act in our upcoming Christmas party. You make the perfect straight man. Why? It's because you are so straight, you make a ruler jealous." Wufei countered sarcastically.

"Ok, Ok. No need to fight for such trivial things," said the blond biker, who came from the other side of the group to come in between the arguing duo.

"Yeah, Trowa was just kiddin'. And you have to admit it, 'Fei. You do rant about justice a number of times," interjected a long-haired Chinese female with black tresses, standing next to Wufei.

Facing the two visitors, she added. "Hi. Meilan Long's the name, kicking ass is my game."

"Injustice, you can't even defeat me in our practice bouts." ranted Wufei, angry at her rather accurate description of him.

"That's because I was takin' it easy on you," she retorted haughtily, arms akimbo.

"Alright, ease up you two. We've got guests, remember." said the woman in the lab coat in an stern voice.

"Sorry, Sally." both Wufei and Meilan apologized quickly.

"Hello, I'm Sally Po, the medic of this group." the Oriental woman with blond highlights and wearing a lab coat introduced herself.

"And this is my assistant, Quatre Raberba Winner." indicating the blond biker who pacified the arguing duo earlier.

"Hello," he said politely.

A hyper blue haired girl pushed Quatre out of the way as she introduced the remaining members including herself.

"You guys are too slow," She complained lightly. She pointed at the people from left to right as she was telling their names.

"In order, they are Catherine Bloom (the red-headed woman), Dorothy Catalonia (a silver crowned girl), Sylvia Noventa (another blond girl), and Zech's fiancée for god knows how long – Lucrezia Noin (the girl's look alike, only older). As for me, I'm Hilde Schbeiker." she finished as she ducked a glancing blow from Noin for her witty comment.

"Hilde is Duo's girlfriend, thus explaining her hyperactive personality. Duo, if you don't know, was the melodramatic nut you just witnessed earlier." explained Lucretia, smugly.

"Hey!" Hilde yelled, embarrassed at the older girl's explanation.

"Pleased to meet all of you," Akane answered, amazed at the distinct personalities within a single group.

Turning to Sally, Akane once again introduced themselves for her and Quatre's benefit.

"Hey, did you know that Cathy and Trowa are actually siblings?" Sally quipped, eager to spread some hot gossip.

Both Trowa and Cathy glared daggers at their friend, momentarily forgetting that she is the only medic they have.

"Gee, I didn't know that," Akane replied, also interested at the new information.

"Then don't. It's a very long and sad story," Cathy said with her teeth clenched in anger, upset that Sally had betrayed her secret.

Everyone understood her pain through her teary azure eyes. Sally immediately apologized to the siblings for her insensitivity.

The room got eerily quiet and even a bit chilly all of a sudden.

Changing the subject and exorcising the gloomy atmosphere at the same time, Sylvia asked how they were able to keep up with the other drivers and their gunner/partners in the tag team cross country autoduels.

Ranma's reply was cut short when the lights turned off and on thrice in rapid succession.

"Lunch call," Noin said by way of explanation.

"You guys comin' or what? I hear its real good," teased Hilde.

"Sure, Hilde. If there is one thing that Ranma doesn't turn down besides duels, it's food." Akane answered while suppressing a grin.

"Very funny, Honey." Ranma retorted sharply.

Everyone else laughed at the joke including the newly arrived two Hellriders who left early on.

The messy raven-haired biker introduced himself as Heero Yuy and his chestnut haired braided friend - Duo Maxwell.

Their curiosity getting the better of them, the couple had grilled Duo on why he was late with his meeting with Relena. He just said that he had engine trouble and it was a bitch to fix it under the blazing sun.

Afterwards, Duo immediately went to his girlfriend's side.

While walking alongside Hilde, he sneakily pinched her backside. She yelped and punched his right bicep.

"Ouch! I was just kidding, babe." he yelped, rubbing the sore spot.

"Braided idiot," she retorted, letting her tongue out.

-oOo-

The sight that greeted the special guests when they had arrived at their destination was amazing to say the least.

An upper level of the garage was converted into an open air dining hall complete with a long wooden table set with fine linens, silver and china. The walls were dotted with carefully tended plants- some hanging, others are placed alongside the walls for the best effect.

Everyone headed for their respective seats in an orderly manner, quite the opposite from what they would expect a biker gang to act before eating.

Zechs sat in the end facing the door with Noin, Relena, Akane, Ranma, Sylvia, and Dorothy to his right. To his left sat Sally, Heero, Trowa, Duo, Wufei, Meilan, and Quatre.

After saying grace headed by a young blond woman named Midii Une, everyone ate heartily. Duo elbowed Trowa a few times in the side as Midii was returning to her seat between Ranma and Sylvia. The uni-banged youth responded with a withering glare.

Relena quietly explained to their guests that Trowa and Midii are pretty close. In fact, they have a huge crush with each other but were just too afraid to admit it openly.

Ranma had quickly nodded to show that he understood and continued to "dig in" his food. Akane frowned at this and apologized for her husband's eating behavior.

Relena just brushed it aside and pointed at some of the bikers who were doing the same. Akane had felt her head moisten a bit at the amount of sweat that had accumulated in the back of her head at the sight of the disgusting display.

The background music, blaring softly from speakers placed on the four corners of the ceiling, ranged from the current popular music to the almost forgotten jazz of a century ago.

The meal they ate was scrumptious at least. It is composed of fifty-five sizzling T-bones with mashed potatoes and gravy, some green string beans, a very large bowl of spaghetti with meat sauce, and one hundred five brown sugar tarts for dessert.

All of them were washed down with pitchers of ice water, milk and very good homemade wine. Not a speck of algae was seen on the entire table.

All of it is real food, which is a rarity in this day and age even with the proposed replanting of grasses and some crops in specified areas to increase the livestock population.

The visitors had agreed it was the best food they had for quite some time.

It took them back into their childhood days when they were served real food when either Ranma or any of the Tendo siblings celebrate his or her birthday.

The presence of real food at the table had made their birthdays, all the more special, since their fathers have spent a lot of money just to provide them with it.

Midii brought them back to reality, asking them if they were OK. Both Ranma and Akane had apologized for spacing out and assured them that they just had a brief flashback.

To cover their embarrassment, Ranma asked how the Hellriders were formed. Zechs replied smirking "We'll tell you our story if you guys tell us yours'. Is it a deal?"

"Yeah, it's a deal."

Zechs shifted to storyteller mode, causing some quiet groans to be heard among the Hellriders seated.

"It all started just after the Food Riots of 2016. Noin, Sally, and I were all freshmen at the area universities at the time. I was planning to major in civil engineering, Sally in medicine and Noin in Agronomy. We were later joined by Cathy, a new transferee to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

My little sister and the boys have joined years later. Those weekend get-together were usually spent playing chess and computer games."

"Yeah, I even beat Zechs a lot when we play real time strategy games or chess." interrupted Noin to the delight of the audience.

"May I now continue, Lu?" Zechs said peeved at both the interruption and the embarrassing information.

"Sure, hon." she replied, blushing. The guys (except Ranma, Heero, and Quatre) began making cat calls but stopped when Zechs' gave them a death glare.

"Thank you," he said before continuing.

"As I was saying, we only get together for fun then. When the shit began to hit the fan, we get together for defense. We followed the exodus towards the old downtown area, hoping to find a place of our own. It wasn't until we found this parking garage that we found what we were looking for."

"Yup, this place is like a fortress." Heero interrupted excitedly.

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Heero." Zechs gritted, once again peeved at the interruption.

"We later moved in, bringing our various specialties. For example, Heero designed our security and defense systems." He continued his story as he gestured at the messy-haired Hellrider.

"We fortified our base of operations, cleaned out the local riff-raff-"

"Kinda like removing the competition," Duo quipped before ducking to avoid the brown leather boot that was thrown at his direction.

"In doing so, we keep the peace in this neighborhood. From then on, we built up the place while recruiting for more talent." Zechs ended his story without missing a beat as he emerged from under the table.

"The police once called us - a kind of paramilitary force, whatever that means." Relena added, as she watched Trowa pass the boot to Heero on its way back to its owner. Both young men had grimaced from the smell coming from inside the said footwear.

"But, we're not liked by the police to begin with since we – uh, 'liberate' things and attack people from time to time." admitted Wufei sheepishly, ignoring some tittering from his seat mates.

He was tempted to follow Zech's example, but Meilan's painful stomp on his left foot had changed his mind.

"Maybe so, but we only attack violent foes, so they leave us alone. Most of the time anyway," chipped in Dorothy, smirking at the now arguing couple.

"The neighborhood were so impressed with us, they even gave us stuff voluntarily. We didn't even force them, not that we would have anyway," Sylvia quipped, blue eyes focusing on the heated argument across the table from her along with those of her seat mate, Midii.

"Sounds like you guys are the neighborhood patrol, am I right?" Ranma asked, ignoring the fight.

"Yup, and we're proud of it too." said Relena, with an impish smile, glancing every now and then on the ongoing drama across the table.

"So why here then when you guys could have set up base anywhere else?" Akane asked confused as to why they stayed here.

"Well, there isn't anyplace else in Boston that we can go with these 'amenities'. Besides, for most of us, this place is already home," Heero answered for Relena, looking at the blond girl wistfully.

"Good point," agreed Akane, noticing the look Heero gave her seatmate and lightly nudged Relena at her side. The girl's cheeks immediately went crimson.

"We told our story, Ranma. It's your turn," Zechs said as he cajoled the pair, and then glared at Heero for looking at his sister in an inappropriate manner (at least to him, it is).

"Well, where do I start?" he asked the Hellrider leader.

The arguing couple had immediately quieted, curious at the Saotome's story.

"How about the mission Relena was talking about on our way here?" Noin replied, nudging her fiancé for glaring at Heero.

"Yesterday, Colonel Son- our old commander, paid us a visit after we won in the Albany Classic." Ranma began his tale. "He told us to deliver a package to Akane's dad, another Colonel, in Thunder Tofu's truck stop."

"Ah, the militia huh?" sneered Wufei contemptuously.

"Cool it, Wufei." Zechs commanded sharply.

To the couple, he added "We all had some bad experiences with the militia, but that doesn't mean we hate them."

"No harm done, we aren't perfect either." said Akane, understanding his views.

Ranma waited for moment to continue. "Truth is, what we brought has something to do with the militia's campaign with the ARFs."

"Oh yeah, now we're cookin'." whooped some of the bikers.

"Those guys are real pains in the ass," exclaimed Sally with her arms crossed.

"I know what you mean, Sally. Those shit heads even attacked us last night in our own hotel room," said Akane, shaking with anger at the memory.

"Whoa, calm down." Ranma said while holding his wife's shoulders in pacifying manner.

"We tagged them, sure. But they just keep coming back," He added with a derisive snort.

"The ARFs are kinda like vultures, no matter how many times you scare them away, they keep comin' back for more." agreed Wufei with a nod of his head.

"They even had the gall to make a base just outside of our turf only a month ago," he continued.

"So what did you guys do?" asked Ranma, interested at their answer.

Zechs had replied for Wufei's sake. "We recently put an inside man in there and he reports to us what is going on. From his recent reports, we heard that they are bringing heavy firepower in small pieces for immediate assembly. They planned to destroy Boston from the inside, but for now they are just waiting for a shipment of something. As to what it is, he doesn't know."

"We planned to take that base out of business before they use it on us," he added, excitement building in his voice.

The meal had just ended and everyone had washed his or her own plates.

-oOo-

As Ranma finished cleaning his plate, Zechs had approached him then led the younger man toward the garage.

"Thank you for getting my sister out the heat and possible danger," The Hellrider leader said while shaking Ranma's gloved hand. "I heard some reports that the ARFs have been hanging around the area where she was supposed to meet with Duo. They've must have been waiting for you."

"Hey, it was Akane's idea to let her in the car. I'm just the chauffeur," Ranma joked lamely.

The silver haired biker leader had laughed out loud at Ranma's depreciated sense of humor. When they had finally reached the fully-charged and re-armed duel car, the Hellriders were saying their good byes to their new friends.

"Hey, since the ARFs are your enemies too, how about we join forces?" asked Quatre, hoping for more allies in their fight against the ARFs.

"Um-" started Ranma.

"We'll do it," exclaimed his wife, daring him to disagree with her narrowed eyes. She had followed the two men after exchanging hugs and good-byes with the other girls.

"Alright, give us fifteen minutes to gear up." Zechs requested as he and the other bikers headed for their respective rooms to prepare for the raid.

It really took twenty minutes since the girls took a little longer to prepare than the guys.

-oOo-

Ranma looked at his wristwatch; it was nearly 2:30 in the afternoon. The Hellriders (save for a few who had remained to man the base) left the garage at once, two cycles abreast.

With a push of a button on Zech's bike's handlebars, the whole base went on lock-down status.

The locals were awed by the improvised parade composed of over a hundred cycles, a ten-wheeler Mack truck and the Hauberk Custom bringing up the rear. The troop parade passed through Pagan's booth with no fanfare at all.

He even waved when he thought no one was looking. Their destination was a dusty bowl of land, two miles beyond the city limits near the main road, straddling the western border of Hellrider territory.

-oOo-

The fierce afternoon sun beat down on several small buildings, one of them looking like a warehouse and the other a medium-sized garage.

Nimbus clouds were also beginning their own assault as they slowly overwhelm the slowly darkening sky. By the looks of things, they may bombard the place with raindrops soon.

The plan itself was simple. The Hellriders would wait for their inside man to knock out the guards and let them in. They would loot the warehouse, stashing the goods in the Mack's orange trailer.

Afterward, they would raze the place to the ground before leaving. They do not wish to kill anyone though, just scare them spit less.

The convoy stopped on hill overlooking the buildings. Zechs then checked his watch and scanned the area with his high tech binoculars every so often as if waiting for something to happen.

At exactly 3:15 PM, the warehouse gates opened. The Hellriders, with Heero in the lead, had left their machines and went silently down the hill, heads lowered to keep them from getting spotted.

A minute later, an all-clear signal was seen. Briefly engaging the Hauberk's electronic countermeasures (ECS), Ranma had followed the truck, wary for any surprise attack.

-oOo-

Ranma had parked the car near the warehouse. Both duelists had by then noticed the sprawled guards slowly being carried to a nearby hiding place.

Akane had headed for the garage to help set fire to three ARF mobiles with magnesium fillings. She slung her laser rifle over her shoulder, just in case.

Ranma, eager to help, went in the direction of the warehouse. As he arrived, the guys were already picking up the boxes of ammo and moving them toward the truck, bucket-brigade style.

He turned back toward the biker chief outside to tell him that he would do some routine patrol outside the ARF base.

-oOo-

As he was passing by a small office on his way back to the car, he noticed Wufei and Trowa, with their ears cupped on the door clearly marked PRIVATE in slightly rusted letters.

Curiosity getting the better of him, he followed suit. The two people inside, male by their pitch, were arguing loudly.

Neither of the would be victims even knew they are being presently plundered. Words like "militia", "tunnel", "losing the stuff", and "gas" were prominent in their heated exchange.

Heavy footsteps were soon heard as one left to take a breather and the three eavesdroppers scattered. The two bikers had quickly hid behind a nearby corner, while Ranma had stayed behind to attract the goon's attention. He kept his helmet on just in case.

A blond thug had opened the door while his darker skinned companion stayed behind at the round table, still fuming.

"What are you doing here?!" he yelled. Ranma did not reply as he was thinking of an excuse.

"C'mon. I asked you a question!" the goon insisted. Ranma replied by drawing the Eight of Spades from his back pocket.

"How did it go?" the goon then asked. The second goon had gotten antsy waiting for his partner. He told the first to come back and ignore the visitor.

"Shut your filthy trap, Mueller." the first goon barked.

"Fuck you too, Alex." Mueller countered hotly.

"No worries, I iced them but good. Too bad, the broad's really cute." Ranma lied, his voice a little strained through the helmet.

Inwardly, he cringed. He hoped his wife would not get wind of this particular conversation. She hated being called a broad.

Alex told Ranma to bring the briefcase to him. He returned to his car as Alex closed the door.

-oOo-

On his way back with the now empty briefcase and a holstered Desert Eagle, Ranma had noticed both Trowa and Wufei looking at him with mischievous grins on their faces. He ignored them and walked on.

When he knocked on the door, he could still hear the ARFs arguing. It was Mueller who opened the door this time, saying "Well, let me have it then!"

Ranma was thinking 'I thought they only say that in the DVDs' as he hammered Mueller on the head with the briefcase. Before Alex could draw his gun as he ran towards the door, Ranma had leveled his own at him, cocked and ready to go.

Shaking with unrestrained fear, Alex had picked up his unconscious partner and carried him outside.

By then, Trowa had arrived with Wufei and all three escorted the prisoners to a safe location just outside the base walls and tied them securely to a tree.

The clouds took that moment to let loose a torrent of raindrops drenching anyone without shelter.

Jogging back towards the buildings, Ranma had advised them not to tell Akane what he had said earlier. Trowa quickly complied while Wufei jokingly told him not to get his panties in a bunch. The pony tailed duelist glared at him and he went quiet.

-oOo-

The three men had separated in an uneasy silence, with Ranma heading for the Hellrider leader overseeing things under a nearby overhang, the latter not minding the drops falling from above him.

Ranma was about to report about the incident at the office as he was drying himself with his kept towel, when a voice cackled from Zechs' hand-held radio.

"Zechs, its Sylvia. We've got company. Over," it said.

Keying the talk button, Zechs replied. "Go on."

"Its only one car with ARF markings but it missed the half dozen spider mines I laid on the driveway as it turned left just before the mines," Sylvia reported crisply.

"Damn, we got trouble now." Zechs said half to himself.

"Sylvia, alert everyone near you to the newcomer. Zechs Out."

Picking up his slightly damp bullhorn, he barked. "Everyone, we got company. A new car, definitely ARF, just entered the area. Those with Steyr AUG rifles, look out for a car coming from the east sector. Everybody else, back to the bikes." Zechs has just put down the bullhorn when he noticed Ranma.

"I guess we may have to fight 'em after all," he admitted sheepishly.

"I'll take care of him," promised Ranma as he sloshed back to his car, ignoring the now worsening weather.

-oOo-

The ARF car (a Bombadier) had entered the base area with its headlights and wipers on, as Ranma was powering up the noticed the Hellriders in the warehouse and managed to pin them down with his anti-tank gun.

The bikers had fought gamely, but were easily out gunned since only a few were armed with Steyr rifles and only Akane had a laser rifle with her.

The rest had the effect of throwing water balloons at the enemy vehicle with their ineffective hand weapons. The peals of thunder and flashes of lightning added to the bleakness of the one sided battle.

The Hauberk, ECS activated, had situated itself between the burning cars. Luckily, the steam created by the rain as it came in contact with the burning hulks, had kept it from being spotted by the intruder.

-oOo-

The firefight was still raging when some bikers had their close calls, no thanks to the powerful salvos of their opponent's gun and its corresponding splash damage.

Relena was nearly hit by falling debris if not for Heero tackling her and shielding her body with his armored own. Powder blue eyes met Prussian blue, while neither Relena nor Heero spoke a word or even moved a muscle.

The romantic spell was quickly broken by Duo's off-key singing - "Heero and Relena sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes – Ouch!" He was deftly interrupted by quick tug on his damp braid by an equally damp and angry Hilde.

It did lighten the Hellrider's mood considerably while trading shots with the Bombardier as the rainstorm had grown even stronger.

The winds had also joined the battle, throwing small debris everywhere. This resulted in a few nicks, some broken glass, and a lot of annoyance for the Bombadier's driver as it was pelted repeatedly.

Ranma had taken the right moment to ambush the renegade, the Hauberk's forward facing weapons went blazing and their battle was on. The Hauberk's arrival had given the bikers the needed respite.

At about the same time, Catherine also had a brainstorm as she yelled "LAW" to the other girls who were treating the wounded near the back of the warehouse.

The said girls had to drag the wounded to a drier area inside the warehouse then went back and forth wetting their rags in the gutters nearest to them, each gutter gushing with clean rainwater. After they had cleaned the wounds, they dried and bandaged them.

Dorothy had gotten the hint and handed the older girl a Stinger on the run. She had gotten the said light anti-tank weapon from the opened crates nearest to the firing line.

Catherine had bracketed the distracted Bomb in her gun sights and fired once. The deadly projectile had hit the hood squarely, disabling the anti-tank gun and heavily damaging the Bombadier's power plant underneath it.

"We got him!"

Everyone had congratulated either Catherine or Ranma who exited his car in search of his wife despite the hullabaloo in the rain.

While Ranma had left his car to find Akane, the ARF driver was immediately accosted, roughly pulled out of his vehicle, and tied to the tree just outside the base along with his buddies.

When the Saotomes had met, Ranma spun his wife around happily, mud stained armor and rain notwithstanding.

He did not even care if she was caked with mud and grime from the various times Akane had to tuck and roll on the ground when the Bombadier's driver had her in its sights early in the battle.

Whether from the fact that she was alive or that she helped take down the Bomb, Ranma would never know why he felt so relieved at that moment. All he knows was that their alive and together.

Meters away, the newly confessed couple was currently scolding Duo for singing that annoying song – in the middle of a firefight no less.

It was obvious that the Hellriders would have gotten some grievous losses if not for the Saotome's help. They were simply out-gunned right from the start.

Thus, Lucretia had cleared her throat as she neared them. Zechs being frozen with shock and getting seriously drenched as his baby sister and Heero were now an item. They even showed signs of affection as they were jointly scolding Duo, a grinning Hilde watching nearby.

"There was one ARFmobile we didn't burn. It's yours if you want to," she said as gratitude for their help in raid and the corresponding battle. The couple had inspected the newly dampened car, the Q-Mid, only to decline the offer.

When asked why, Ranma replied "Well, the Hauberk Custom is one of a kind. Besides, we're both very attached to it."

"Maybe we can even leave it as a heirloom for our children," Ranma added as he looked down at his wife with a loving gaze and snaked an arm around her back.

Akane could not help herself go misty-eyed and blushing at this new revelation. Many of the biker girls could not help but squeal like a bunch of high school girls at this sudden public display of affection.

"So who will own it?" asked Quatre, astounded that the car is not taken.

"How 'bout Catherine? It was her shot that finally crippled the Bomb," answered Akane as she wrapped her own arms around her husband.

All eyes turned to the red headed beauty.

"Sure, I'll take it." she finally agreed to everyone's loud cheers.

"Thank you, Ranma … Akane." she added, shyly.

"Let's finish this and head home, everyone." Zechs commanded, having come to when the bikers had cheered at Catherine's new car.

-oOo-

Everyone did their share in rigging the explosives they kept in their vehicles all around the ARF base. When they finished, they set off all fuses and detonators, resulting in a spectacular display of firepower leveling the whole place to the ground.

Clouds of steam and dirt rose in the air before they scattered in every direction. This was how it was seen by their captives having a ringside seat at the destructive display before them.

The Hellriders headed home, stopping only near the police station to drop off their tied up captives for the surprised cops to arrest.

Trowa, during the trip home, had also examined the six barrels kept in the trailer mysteriously marked "GASOLINE".

-oOo-

When they arrived at the garage, Trowa had excitedly reported that barrels do contain the precious fuel's gold. Everyone rejoiced at the discovery.

Quatre had even shouted "We're rich! We're rich!" at the fact that they can sell the barrels for thousands or even millions in dollars.

Every one took a needed bath and change of clothes before they partied the rest of the afternoon away. Sadly, Ranma and Akane had to leave early to re-arm their car and return to the truck stop to face the approaching ARFs main force.

-oOo-

Zechs, had escorted the couple back to their car, while calling Heero, Duo, Trowa, and Wufei to give them the Hellrider honor guard on their way to the New Downtown section of Boston.

The convoy had threaded the newly dampened roads carefully as a rainbow appeared in the slowly clearing western sky.

As the six separated and said their farewells, Ranma peeked at the dashboard clock. It read 5:30 PM, only two and a half hours before they report back to the Old Man. They headed straight for Uncle Albert's Catalog Showroom just downtown.

-oOo-

As the Saotome's had entered Uncle Albert's Showroom, a young brunet salesman with a ponytail approached them. He immediately shook their hands as he was greeting them.

"Hi, my name is Garrod Ran. What can I interest you this fine evening?"

"Hello, Garrod. My wife and I are just looking for heavy rockets and some vehicle ammo," replied Ranma, partly impressed with the greeting.

"Yeah, well you see we are kind of hurry here." Akane added hastily.

Undeterred, the young salesman had started his sales talk as he led them to the new products section.

"Well, let me introduce you first to our new product – the range extender. It extends your charge by ten percent or around twenty miles. Its only drawback is it has to be connected to practically everything electronic like radar and such. It costs 1,000 dollars."

"Wow, how long can it be installed?" gushed Akane, suitably impressed.

"About four hours, tops." was the disappointing reply.

"Uh-uh, that's way too long for us." Ranma interjected with a hint of disappointment.

"Well then, walk this way then for the ammo and other stuff. Garrod instructed as he led his way toward the aisles further in.

"If you need anything, just ask for me." Garrod declared as he retreated into the background, disappointment clearly seen in his body language.

An hour later, the couple had bought two sets of improved body armor, ammunition for their vehicular and hand weapons and finally, two sets of infrared goggles for night work.

They had paid their purchases before exiting the showroom and pulling out of the parking space for the damp streets of Boston.

-oOo-

The dashboard clock now flashes 6:30 PM in its little LCD screen. The Saotomes were famished after their afternoon escapade.

A quick scan of the recent Autoduel Quarterly, hidden in the glove compartment, had revealed Billy's to be the best place nearby to feed two very hungry autoduellists.

Billy's is a hash-house west of Boston with reasonably priced food and favorable ambiance for the tired and hungry autoduellist on the road. Ranma even had some trouble finding a place to park his car, given that the available spots are taken by plenty of duel cars and trucks.

As they had entered, the smell of real food was immediately noticed. They sat on a recently vacated table near the dewed windows, just to the right of the front entrance/exit.

Akane took their order of roasted ribs, coleslaw and some gravy. They had small talk as they ate their meals. The bubblegum chewing waitress gave them their tab costing forty-five dollars as they finished eating.

Ranma had paid for their meals using his Autobank card and they left for the city gates and Thunder Tofu's truck stop.

* * *

Now that the side trip's over, it's time for the final showdown between the combined force of the 101st Armored Brigade of the Massachusetts Militia and some elements from the New York Militia versus the ARF's main force.

At long last, the long wait is over and the battle for Thunder Tofu's truck stop will begin in earnest.

A preview for the final chapter of Anime Car Wars: Fuel's Gold

* * *

When the couple arrived in Tofu's office doorway, they witnessed a gruesome sight. Tofu was on his knees, clutching his bleeding stomach. In his weakened state, he coughed more blood that just added to the small pool underneath him.

Towering over him is a familiar figure. They gasped when they saw his profile in the light of the reading lamp adjacent to him.

It was the militia guard who guided them to the conference room this morning.

* * *

Surprise! This preview actually explains who was feeding the ARFs the classified information, which led to the ambushes of our beloved heroes in the earlier chapters and who Soun has been trying to figure out last chapter.

He'll get his "just desserts" next chapter.

For those who read In Memoriam, this chapter is where I first used the weather elements of wind and rain in my fanfics as I was re-editing it. The fact that it worked gave me the idea to use it in In Memoriam which I wrote and posted weeks later.

See you guys next week for the conclusion of Fuel's Gold. Reviews and constructive criticisms are still appreciated but not necessary.


	5. Endgame

Hi, everyone. This is Fortune Hunter, author of Fuel's Gold saying good bye. Just kidding, this is the final chapter of Fuel's Gold where I wrap things up.

Action aficionados would love this chapter since it has a lot of action, both on and off the road. Some fluff and bad jokes are added to complete the recipe.

As promised, a certain traitor would get his just desserts this chapter.

I do not own Car Wars, Ranma 1/2, Zoids or even the song "Another One Bites the Dust."

Zoids are the property of Takao Kato, Masakatsu Iijima, and the men and women of both Shogakukan Productions (Zoids Chaotic Century/Guardian Force and Fuzors series) and Avex Inc (for Zoids Century Zero).

Ranma belongs to Ms Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Communications, the song is the property of Queen and finally, Car Wars belongs to Steve Jackson and Steve Jackson Games.

By the way, for those who wanted my characters to evolve in any way, the only thing that did change is the respect and love the Saotomes had for each other. The relationship has strengthened even more especially in the wake of the climaxing event in this chapter.

Thank you for reaching this far and another thank you for Crono for reviewing.

This is my first multi-chaptered story and I had to re-edit it for you, the reader. Even if you did not review, constructively criticize or flame me, I don't mind. As long as it is read and appreciated, I'm happy.

Even now, three years after I had posted this, I'm still happy that you guys have continued to read this. Thank you.

* * *

**"****Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."** -Winston Churchill

Chapter 5- **Endgame**

Massachusetts Thruway, west of Boston - 7:30 PM, Sunday

The Hauberk Custom had carefully made its way westward at a steady speed of 60 mph in the damp highway.

The clear night sky had provided a glittery backdrop for the full moon, which seemed to be blessing the car and its armored occupants for the battle ahead.

Inside the cruising vehicle, Ranma had glanced at his vehicle's charge meter. Satisfied that it was nearly full, he then turned his attention to his wife riding shotgun in the gunner seat. She seemed to be shivering while trying her best not to show it.

Whether it was due to the cool air rushing through their opened windows or just plain nervousness, he did not know.

Thinking the latter was the reason, he had placed his free hand on her left shoulder. She smiled, touched at his simple gesture. She was reassured that everything would turn out alright.

"Thank you, dear." she spoke gratefully.

"Your welcome, honey." He replied lovingly.

No other words were deemed necessary afterward.

-oOo-

A police roadblock soon came to view to the Hauberk's occupants. The said car immediately had stopped and Ranma opened his window.

"I'm sorry but the militia is currently having some training exercises in the area. Please go back," the policeman had explained to the couple as if the line was rehearsed many times.

"We understand your situation, but Colonel Tendou is expectin' us." said Ranma, a little irked at the delay.

"You see, I'm his daughter and he (indicating Ranma) is my husband." said Akane as she showed their white pass.

The guard had left for a moment to radio his superiors. A minute later, he had waved the Saotomes through the roadblock.

-oOo-

When the couple had arrived at the truck stop a good ten minutes later, they immediately looked for Soun only to be told to see him at a later time. They then opted to look for Tofu instead.

The couple had found him and a few New York militia members beside a newly installed 8-inch mortar placed near the western wall.

"Thanks for coming back. The guys and I are just readying this for our 'guests', " said Tofu happily upon seeing his friends coming back to help.

"No problem, Doc." Ranma answered just as happily.

"Anything we can do ta help?" asked Akane, eager to do something.

"Yeah, give us a hand in calibrating this thing." responded Tofu, patting the mortar's titanium barrel covered by a thin layer of dew.

The next five minutes had passed by quickly as the Saotomes helped calibrate the mortar's aiming circles.

A Boston militia private had arrived, informing the Saotomes that the Colonel wishes to see them.

"See ya later, Doc." waved Ranma, smiling as he had turned to leave.

"Yeah. Wish you luck, Doc." rhymed Akane, tittering at her own joke as she followed her husband's lead.

"Very funny, Akane. See you guys later." Tofu waved them goodbye.

"Don't get hurt," he added quickly.

"We won't," they promised, already halfway to the buildings.

None of them had thought how true those words would be just three hours later.

-oOo-

The private had escorted them to the cafeteria, now converted to a meeting room. As before, maps were strewn on the walls and tables as militia officers still pored over them. On one table near the back wall, was Colonel Tendou. The wall clock above him had indicated that it was ten minutes to eight pm.

"Ah, good to have you back safe and sound." Soun said with a relieved sigh as soon as he had seen them.

"Thank you, Sir." Ranma said while giving a salute in cadence with his wife. Soun had returned their salute before hugging his youngest daughter and shaking his son-in-law's hand.

Ranma then placed the white pass on the table before returning to an upright position.

"How is Relena and her family?" Soun asked, curious at the young lady's background.

"She's fine, sir. W-We'll –uhh- tell ya m-more about her f-family at a more c-convenient time," Ranma said in a stutter, embarrassed that Relena was actually a member of the Hellriders.

Soun had taken the hint, making a mental note to ask at a more quiet location and time. Changing the subject, he said. "I have a job for both of you."

Walking over to the map on the wall nearest him, he then continued "The ARFs are convoying down here (pointing at a spot on the map) along I-495. Anyone can join this convoy, showing the ARF's loss of control."

The older man had paused briefly to catch his breath before continuing.

"There is a possibility that a half a dozen or so cars does not know that they are convoying with a gang of terrorists intent on destroying Boston."

Soun had paused a second time to see if they would ask questions, if any. Ranma had asked if the unassuming civilians could be warned away from the mob. The colonel then answered that it could not be done without raising suspicion.

"I'm afraid that escape during the confusion would be their only way to survive, that is if they chose to do so." Soun added as he had put the emphasis on if.

After yet another pause, Soun again continued.

"What you will do is lead a team of six vehicles to Marlborough. When the convoy passes you, join them at the rear. As soon as the fighting starts, attack"

"They're already disorganized, if we can disorganize them even more, we can split them up and take them out at our leisure. Is that understood?" he ordered sharply.

"Yes, Sir." both Saotomes replied crisply.

"Good. The rest of the team is waiting for you over there," Soun said as he pointed to the spot near the charging generators.

All three militia officers had saluted and the colonel handed them two baseball caps with Tendou's Titans in bold letters and first lieutenant stripes embroidered in their front before sending them on their way.

-oOo-

Thunder Tofu's truck stop's charging station – 8:05 PM, Sunday

A group of young men were lounging around the charging generators, chatting about everything under the sun when the Saotome's arrived.

In the middle of the group was a very tall brown-haired young man, about their age. His hair seemed to be eternally ruffled and he wore a mechanical eye patch with three movable lenses. He has towered over the rest of the group yet is still a head shorter than Zechs.

To his left was a spiky black haired young man with a mullet. He was talking to both the tall guy and the shorter blue-haired youngster, at the far left. To his right, two blond young men were in a conversation of their own.

The one immediately to the middle guy's right side is taller and slightly older than his companion. The taller blond was showing off a hand held device to the younger one who was obviously bored to tears and nodding off from time to time.

All chatting had ceased when Ranma had cleared his throat meaningfully.

"Good evening, Sir and Madam." The spiky haired one greeted the couple.

"Hi."

"Greetings."

"Howdy."

"What brings you here?"

Ignoring the last comment, Ranma greeted them back. "Good evening, gentlemen. I'm 1st Lieutenant Ranma Saotome and wit' me is my lovely wife, Akane. She's also a 1st lieutenant." (gesturing to his wife beside him.)

"I'm Van Flyheight, sir." said the spiky brunette with a jaunty salute.

"Call me Irvine," said the tallest one.

"Bit Cloud, at your service." said the blond at the far right with a theatrical bow.

"R.D.s the name, autoduelling's my game." came the reply from the blue-haired youngster.

"Sergeant Thomas Richard Schubaltz, part of the 51st Armored Brigade stationed in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia." said the taller blond, standing at full attention and saluting crisply.

The couple had to stifle a laugh since the blond's action had reminded them of the days that they had spent in boot camp seven years ago.

"Chill, Thomas. They jus' want to know your name," quipped Van, chuckling a little while everyone else had looked at the officer strangely.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to tell your rank and other important information to your new superior officer." Thomas shot back, miffed.

If looks could kill, Thomas would be branded as a murderer ten times over for killing Van.

"Ok, that's enough." threatened Ranma sharply, glaring at the two.

He continued. "I'll jus' read your profiles while waiting fer the ARFs."

"Bit and R.D., have ya participated in some autoduelling events recently?" He asked, as he changed the subject.

"Yes, sir. We competed with each other as rookies in the Indianapolis Royal Rumble jus' last month," Bit answered with pride.

"Yeah, neither one of us won first place though. Bit got second place and I got third," R.D. added, azure eyes misting with the memory.

"How about you, Van and Irvine?" asked Akane, curious of their own backgrounds.

"Me, I'm a drifter. Doing one job after another. Sometimes, I work as a mercenary." answered Irvine, in a bored manner.

"I'm also part of the 51st Armored Brigade like Thomas. I jus' got promoted to Sgt. Major last week. Afterward, we were hand picked to join Tendo's Titans with Bit, R.D. and Irvine." replied Van, cheerfully.

"Now that we know each other, let's hit the road." Ranma ordered. All Titans went for his respective vehicle.

The newly formed teram had quickly left the gates on their way to the Marlborough exit, a few miles away.

When the Titans had arrived at their destination, they split up into pairs before parking at the incline and other spots in the interchange.

Afterwards, they had waited for nearly an hour while Ranma read and discussed with his wife the profiles of their men.

-oOo-

Marlborough I-495 freeway exit – 8:40 PM, Sunday

"Ranma, they're here." said Akane, poking her life mate who was reading the profiles one more time. The radar screen on her side of the dashboard, had displayed a lot of green blips (also known as "paint") coming from the upper left corner.

"Oh, right. Let's listen in to their frequency," Ranma replied. He had put away the files of their men in a gray briefcase, that used to hold the courier package he and his wife had carried since last night, sitting in the back seat.

Akane then fiddled with the long range radio's volume buttons, raising the volume a bit.

From the rear speakers, excited chatter could be heard. The main topic seemed to be what the chatters would do when they arrive in Boston.

"Yep, it's them alright." Ranma grimly surmised.

The "convoy" had turned out to be a mass of cars coming from the horizon. It was wide enough to cover both lanes of the interstate and stretched to about a mile in length. Akane had given the Titans the hand signal to move out as Ranma put the Hauberk in gear.

As the Hauberk had entered the mass, R.D. had tailed them. Van and Irvine had followed suit, five minutes later, and finally Bit with Thomas, five minutes after that. The merging itself was very easy, since all sorts of cars were included in the mass.

Most were a step away from the junkyard, but a few were shiny and formidable. Many were painted with crude playing card insignias. The Titans drove with the mob, keeping radio silence and monitored both the ARF channel and the channel used by the militia.

-oOo-

About two miles from the truck stop, an imposing yet smooth male voice came over the ARF channel.

"Ok, gang." the voice started. "This is Ace of Hearts. Everybody sound off."

Most of the Titans now noticed that the ARFs used playing cards as IDs. The car just ahead of the Hauberk Custom identified itself as Five of Diamonds.

Ranma was about to call themselves Eight of Spades when Akane had suddenly snatched the mike from his hands and said "Boston Wrecking Crew." She had smirked triumphantly at her quick thinking.

"That's pretty good," a voice had commented on the airwaves.

"Yeah, that gal's got the anarchist spirit." agreed another voice.

The countdown still continued but had broken down into chaos. Several of the ARFs had copied Akane's joke. Some were bad; others obscene, while a select few were very clever.

"Ok, listen up." the first voice had interrupted, his undertone dripping with pure venom.

He had continued darkly. "We're stopping at the truck stop two miles from here to charge. Go in by numbers, deuces first, going up to aces. Boston Wrecking Crew, you and the other jackasses are the jokers in the deck. You go in last."

The Titans had managed to remain within visible range of each other at the rear of the group.

In front, four vehicles apparently the deuces had peeled off from the mass and accelerated towards the truck stop.

Suddenly, a 4-inch caliber shell was lobbed from inside the walls. It had landed near the advance party with no apparent result other than splattering them with drying mud and small rocks.

A second shell, this one from Tofu's 8-inch caliber mortar had landed in front of a low slung car bearing the Four of Clubs insignia. The car was thrown 25 feet in the air to land a complete wreck.

The Titans, taking their cue, had attacked the ARF car nearest to them, catching the whole ARF attacking force with their proverbial pants down. Moreover, militia vehicles from in and around the truck stop met the ARF main force head on.

-oOo-

Akane had sprayed Five of Diamonds with machine gun fire. It did not retaliate at first but did so with interest later. Unfortunately, its thick armor aided by chunks of steel hanging at its side had deflected most of the .50 caliber projectiles to the muddy highway.

Enraged, she had switched to the recoilless rifle and took careful aim at the opponent's weak spots. Meanwhile, Ranma had tried to evade the deadly rounds sent their way. He only succeeded with the two heavy rockets but the car still got hit by splash damage.

Akane, by then, had dealt enough damage to silence Five of Diamonds forever. They had left the now-silent and broken car for the clean up crews to pick up.

-oOo-

Fifty meters behind the Saotomes' , R.D. was not having as much as luck as they do. After overwhelming his first opponent, other ARFs quickly had ganged up on him.

He had barely managed to escape the encirclement laid for him, when he poured everything he had on his forward opponents and slashed some more as he had escaped in the confusion made when the first ARF cars he shot, had exploded.

He had also launched plenty of mines behind him to disable any further pursuers. Some of the mines missed and fell into the mud where it was triggered by other pursuers.

-oOo-

On the other side of the battle field, Bit and Van were having a ball. Between them, a dozen cars were completely disabled. Their customized retractable blades did the trick. Five more cars came charging at them.

Bit had slashed the ones on their right. Van had gone for those on their left. The pulse laser and sonic cannon were enough to take out the survivors of their slashing run.

Bit had later broken off to lick his wounds and provide cover to two muddy militia vehicles with worse damage. All three vehicles went in the direction of the militia's emergency rendezvous point.

Van's car had lesser damage so he had searched for more opponents before withdrawing himself.

-oOo-

In yet another part of the battle field, Irvine and Thomas were themselves doing well on their own. Ten ARF vehicles had fallen to their combined firepower. Thomas had even rammed a few flaming wrecks that were blocking their path.

They were on their way for more when they had chanced upon R.D. who's on his way to the emergency rendezvous point. R.D. helped them knock out five more ARFs before withdrawing. Irvine and Thomas had covered him since they were running out of ammo.

-oOo-

The Saotome's troubles were not over yet. While Bit and the others were withdrawing, they had fought yet another ARF car armed with a laser. Unlike before, this one was successfully crippled by a well-placed heavy rocket strike to its power plant

Despite the Titans' and other militia's heroic efforts, the battle moved closer to the truck stop. The militia was slowly overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Most were forced to retreat to the safety of the truck stop.

Those cut off from the general retreat had regrouped in the designated rendezvous point, their escape covered by smokescreens.

"Ranma, let's head back to the truck stop via the culvert." proposed Akane, getting another bad feeling.

"Ok, let's go." he replied, eager to escape the rout made by the ARFs.

-oOo-

Culvert Entrance - 9:15 PM, Sunday

Stopping a few feet away from the supposed entrance, the couple immediately alighted and had opened the culvert by grabbing the steel grate and twisting it as hard as they could.

The end result was that the grate rose to its full height then fell on the right side of the culvert entrance, making a big splat as it hit the muddy ground. Both Soatomes had grimaced at the mud that had stained much of their blue armor and promptly wiped as much as they could.

"Stay here and watch for trouble," Ranma instructed as he had gone down the tunnel entrance, infrared goggles and gun in hand.

"I will. Just be careful down there," Akane shot back, as she stayed just outside the yawning square-shaped hole.

To Ranma's surprise, the tunnel was wide and high enough for a car to get in. The floor itself was solid concrete, able to support a fully-loaded vehicle. The only drawbacks he found were the musty atmosphere and inherent lack of light.

Ranma had worn his goggles as he was testing the floor and walls further in. He had quickly returned back up, his goggles hanging loosely on his neck and told his wife the good news.

They had returned to their car and Ranma had maneuvered it so it could enter the tunnel in slow reverse for a quick getaway later. He then shifted the visuals to infrared so they would not be spotted through their headlight beams.

It had taken about a half hour before the Hauberk had reached the end.

The Saotomes had alighted once more; MAC-10 submachine guns slung on their shoulders, and got on the car's roof to reach the trap door in the ceiling.

-oOo-

Ranma had opened the trap door and gave his wife the needed boost up. He climbed after his mate had exited the storage closet. Both wore their infrared goggles, in case they have to fight in the dark.

"We must be in the main building," said Ranma, as he took in the surrounding area.

"Yeah, let's look for Tofu first. He may be in trouble," urged Akane, her panic coming to the fore.

"How 'bout we look around first? Tofu will be fine," countered Ranma, hoping to see what's going on outside.

"Nope, too many ARFs here to move around anyway." she answered quickly, after they had both taken a quick peek through the misty windows with their goggles hanging on their necks.

"Good point. Let's move."

-oOo-

When they had arrived in Tofu's office doorway at the rear of the truck stop's main building, the couple had witnessed a gruesome sight through the half opened door. Tofu was on his hands and knees, clutching his bleeding stomach. He had coughed more blood adding to the small scarlet pool underneath him.

Towering over him was a familiar figure. The Saotomes had gasped when they saw his profile in the light of the reading lamp adjacent to him.

It was the militiaman who had guided them to the conference room this looked completely different, almost to the point of being unrecognizable. His uniform was rumpled and his hair scraggly. He was watching Tofu much like a hawk watches his prey.

Hearing their collective gasp, the renegade guard had turned around to face them. The infiltrator's eyes were filled with malice as he had pointed his firearm at them.

"What's your card? He asked quickly since he could barely see their faces as they still stood in the darker part of the hallway with their goggles lowered to their necks.

"Eight of Spades," answered Ranma, instantly regretting it.

Both heroes had quickly jumped to either side of the door to avoid being gunned down. The 9mm slugs had holed the hallway wall and broke a window pane in the process. Luckily for the couple, the rest of the ARFs were still loitering in the gate, just too far to hear the gun shots.

"So you're the ones who took out Gopher and Randy. Die, you motherfuckers!" he said as he triggered another burst from his Uzi submachine gun at them.

"Cover me, Ranma." Akane had ordered as she barreled her way inside the large office, cradling her own MAC-10. She had to bend down as she ran in a zigzag manner to their injured friend, a trail of gunfire riding her tail.

Ranma had complied as he had leapt in the room right after Akane and fired two bursts at the surprised ARF. He had hit both the enemy's left leg and stomach, bringing the ARF down to his knees. He then quickly stood up and closed the distance between him and the renegade within seconds.

The ARF had opened his eyes and raised his head to see the business end of a MAC-10 gun barrel aimed at him.

"Give it up, scum. You're injured and we outnumber ya," Ranma threatened the fallen enemy. Recognition had flashed momentarily in the ARFs eyes as he had looked up at his opponent standing over him.

"Never," The ARF defiantly replied and he grabbed his Uzi with his dwindling strength only to shoot at Ranma's armored chest.

"Your loss, pal." Ranma calmly replied and shot him between the eyes.

"You okay, Doc?" Akane quizzed her friend and mentor as she was helping him stand up.

"I'm….fine, Akane." he answered in between breaths.

Ranma was searching his opponent's cooling body only to find a Jack of Diamonds playing card.

"Traitorous asshole," he cursed under his breath. Ranma had looked up at his friends, relieved that Tofu was still alive but barely.

"Let's go find a medic then get outta here," his voice rising in volume at his panicked state.

"No. Too many ARFs," Tofu sputtered weakly.

"Take a breather, ol' friend." advised Ranma wisely.

"He….opened the gates…caught him …too late…ARF…tunnel layout…" Tofu continued before losing consciousness.

-oOo-

Ranma had half carried his older friend on his shoulder while Akane had covered their escape with her submachine gun. They had agreed it was better to bring him to the nearest hospital than to look for a medic that may never be found.

It was only through blind luck that they had made their way to the secret exit way, undetected. Some ARFs had been told to investigate the still non-appearance of Jack of Diamonds but had just missed the escaping trio on their way to Tofu's office.

Ranma had lowered his injured friend down the trap door, with Akane helping them from the roof of the car. She quickly slid down when Ranma had emerged from the trap door above, feet first. Together, they had managed to place Tofu comfortably as possible in the backseat before leaving the place.

They had stopped briefly at the tunnel entrance, long enough for Akane to look for any sign of ARF in the area. When she had given her husband the all-clear sign upon entering the car, the Hauberk itself had taken off, ECS and infrared on full power.

The car had taken a route off-road parallel to I-90, its driver and gunner praying to deities above that they have not been seen.

-oOo-

Whatever higher power there is must have not heard the Saotomes' prayers since yet another ARF car was on an intercept course with them. Since they were already spotted, Ranma had turned off the infrared sensors and ECS before switching on the headlights.

"Damn it. They remind me of cockroaches. They're so dammed persistent," Ranma had cursed under his breath.

"Not to mention, annoying." Akane added darkly.

"Eh?" she suddenly exclaimed, startled by slight whirling sound just overhead.

"What?" said Ranma as he had peppered Nine of Spades with simultaneous bursts from the linked machine guns.

"I thought I saw a helicopter pass by just now," she responded quietly. A soft whoosh of a flamethrower had brought her back to the battle at hand.

"Why I outta?" She cursed loudly. Ranma had winced at his wife's tone while he had fired another combined burst.

"Ranma, go in front of 'em. I have an idea," She commanded urgently.

"Alright," he replied quickly.

Ranma had gotten the car in front of their enemy then Akane blasted them with the remaining heavy rocket and recoilless rifle ammo.

"Nice shooting there, cowboy." a sweet sounding voice on the radio chirped. "The ratings are off the charts."

Ranma had taken the mike and replied in an annoyed manner. "Thanks but who are you?"

"I'm sorry. My name is Fiona Elisi Linette, field reporter for Channel 6 News." the melodious voice had introduced herself, a little miffed at the rebuff.

"Don't mind him. He's just upset that our friend, Thunder Tofu is critically injured." Akane had explained in an off-beat manner, as she again grabbed the mike from a grumbling Ranma. It was this action that had caught Fiona unawares. The latter actually thought that Ranma was the only occupant of the Hauberk.

"The Thunder Tofu?" Fiona exclaimed excitedly, finally getting to see a famous celebrity in her still budding career.

"Yes, he's an old friend of ours. He's resting on our backseat right now."

"Can we help in any way like airlifting him to the nearest hospital?" Fiona asked nicely.

"Sure, Fiona. Let's meet at that open space 150 meters to the northeast," instructed Akane, relieved that some one came to help.

"Roger that."

The news helicopter had landed in the open space as instructed. Its main and tail rotor blades were still spinning when the Hauberk Custom had arrived, splashing a random mud puddle as it stopped.

Things had gone quickly as Fiona and her pilot and friend Moonbay had picked up Thunder Tofu. The news reporter had also given the couple an update on the standoff in the truck stop after introducing each other.

The truck stop was seized by the ARFs and they were now broadcasting on the loudspeakers placed around the truck stop walls - a ransom of one million dollars for the release of the truck stop and the militia captives trapped within.

As soon as Tofu was safely strapped, the news chopper had taken off on its way to the De Beck Medical Center in Boston.

"There they go," observed Akane from her window as she was strapping herself in the gunner seat.

"Uh-huh. Let's head back ta the truck stop. Pronto," suggested Ranma urgently.

"Yeah, let's go."

-oOo-

Area near Thunder Tofu's truck stop entrance – 10:45PM, Sunday

"It's a little **too** quiet. Don't ya think so, honey?" Ranma groused, as the Hauberk Custom had neared the truck stop.

"Understatement of the year, my dear." Akane retorted absently.

The blue haired duelist quickly became agitated as she had seen the battlefield just outside the truck stop.

"Holy shit, Look at that!" she yelled in horror. The car had immediately stopped , loosening some dirt as it did so.

The scene lighted by the car's headlights had left them with a complete loss of words. The fighting had already stopped but it was not what shocked them. The only vehicles in sight were wrecks.

Their interiors were splattered with drying blood, their exteriors were decorated with drying mud and the occasional bullet hole.

Militia and ARFs were slumped in their seats lifeless, their glazed eyes horrifying enough to scare the bravest man alive. Fortunately, none of the Titans were among the dead that they saw.

From where the black car had stopped in shocked silence, the Saotomes could see the 4-inch steel gate and what lies beyond it, four mud splattered 16-wheeler Kenworth W900 flatbed semi-trailers parked just outside the garage.

The radio suddenly came to life, astounding them.

"This is it, Millie." the voice belonging to Ace of Hearts had warned.

"You waste our friends, you waste our machines, and we waste your friends and your buildings. Fair enough, right? We will all be blown to hell. ARF and Millies go down together."

"Funny, I don't see anybody." said Akane, surveying the whole truck stop with her infrared binoculars. What she did notice was that the place looked battle-scarred but still intact.

"I'll move closer so you can see more clearly," Ranma was saying as he shifted to 1st gear.

He had only moved the car a few meters when the radio had barked again.

"Watch it, Millie. Yes you, the militia turkey in front of the gate. (Both Saotomes bristled at being called turkeys.) Nine of Spades had reported you. We see you. Come any closer and we'll torch the place right now. Everybody dies…" Ace of Hearts vowed menacingly.

"Oohh, when I get my hands on that asshole." seethed Akane, still bristling from the turkey comment.

"Calm down, Honey. He's not worth it," Ranma said as he reassured his steaming wife by he squeezing her shoulder lightly.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go see the others," She requested as she calmed down.

"You got it."

The Hauberk immediately spun around and left in a squeal of tires and a fountain of mud.

-oOo-

Emergency rendezvous point (A low hill 200 meters to the southwest of the truck stop) – 11:35 PM, Sunday

"Sir, you're in command." a militia private said with a quick salute as the Saotomes' had alighted from the newly arrived Trans-Am.

"What happened here?" Ranma said, curious at the sudden change in command.

Putting two and two together, Akane had immediately left to look for her father.

"Sir, most of our forces are either dead or surrendered. Among those who surrendered is Colonel Tendou himself. A few of us escaped with the help of the other Titans. Speaking of which, all five Titans are here and accounted for."

"Thank god, they're safe." Ranma muttered to himself.

"Somethin' wrong, sir?" said the militiaman, worried about his new commander.

"It's nothing. Carry on," Ranma replied absently, his mind was preoccupied with worry about his father-in–law's fate. Akane had returned by then, her eyes were red and wet with tears.

"I'm worried about Dad, honey. I couldn't find him anywhere," Akane said while she sobbed on her husband's broad left shoulder.

"Don't let it get to ya, dear. I'm sure he's alright, wherever he is." Ranma had assured her as he pulled her closer to him.

"I hope you're right, Ranma. I really do," she cried as she hugged her husband tighter.

Just then, Thomas had arrived.

"Sorry to intrude your special moment, sir but we have a prisoner." Thomas reported evenly.

"No need to apologize, Thomas. I'm sure he can shed some information with the right incentive," replied Akane, breaking her hug with Ranma and grinning evilly.

Thomas gulped. He had seen that smile before and someone always ended up hurt. He had silently escorted the couple to the prisoner.

-oOo-

Thunder Tofu's truck stop basement – 11:38PM, Sunday

While Ranma and Akane, were on their way to interrogate their ARF prisoner. Soun himself was interrogated by a ranking ARF.

Of course, he had only gave his name, rank and serial number as any good solider would do in a similar situation.

His captor was infuriated with his answer and beat him up even more before leaving in a huff. Colonel Tendou smiled, even if his teeth were smeared red with blood.

'Ranma, Akane. Show these thugs the righteous fury of our forefathers,' was his last thought before darkness overcame him.

-oOo-

Rendezvous point - 11:40PM, Sunday

Ranma was currently facing a downed ARF on his hands and knees.

Only seconds before, the ARF was punched hard in the bread basket by a furious Akane. The prisoner had coughed some blood at the force of the blow.

"R.D. and Irvine, search him." Ranma had ordered harshly. The assembled militia had only found a playing card- the Ace of Clubs on his person.

"Oooh, looks like we caught a big one. What do we do with 'im, boss?" teased Irvine, as he had scanned the prisoner with his mechanical eye patch.

"Lemme at him! I'll kill him!" Akane screeched, held back by both Van and Bit.

Ace of Clubs had looked impassively at the crazy scene. Defiantly, he had declared. "I'll tell you nothing."

Ranma just shook his head in dismay, showing his evilest smile.

He retorted, still smirking. "I know you will eventually, dickhead."

"Jus' remember that in the battlefield, it's anything goes. In words that even **you** can understand, there are no rules whatsoever." He reminded the now cowed prisoner who would have pissed in his pants if not for some semblance of self control.

Ace of Clubs had shivered at the implication. He knew that meant they could torture him until he died with no remorse whatsoever.

"Fine. I'll…I'll talk," He relented, wisely taking the lesser of the two evils.

"Actually, they're going to blow 'em up, no matter what. Hearts is asking for ransom just ta keep Boston guessing. We have four trucks in there, all full of real gas." Ace of Clubs had explained, fear creeping into his shaky voice.

"Go on," coaxed Ranma, watching his wife at the edge of his peripheral vision. He was visibly relieved that Akane had calmed down a bit and was intently listening to the confession.

"The detonators are hidden behind the kingpin," Clubs continued, still fearing for his life.

"You mean the kingpin on the trailers?" interrupted Van excitedly.

"Yes, they're going to blow it up via remote control. Everybody would then believe that we're all in there. We're not crazy. It was only a CD recording. When the hostages die, they would think we died along with them. The hostages are trapped in the basement of the garage," he narrated, going hysterical with every word.

"Damn 'em," fumed Akane.

"Nobody would be able to identify the bodies. But the ARF really escaped through the secret tunnels. Boston will be owned," Clubs cackled, gray eyes going wild.

"Enough," Akane said as she had bonked him on the head with her mystical hammer.

The others had winced at the blow before leaving him to two militia corporals who would guard him until he was placed in a holding cell.

-oOo-

"Y' know everyone. The strangest thing here is that I believe him," Akane had admitted sheepishly as the Titans had walked back to the parked vehicles.

"Me too. If there's one secret tunnel, there may be two or three or even more. That's Doc for you," Ranma said in agreement, before he had blown his bangs hanging on his forehead in frustration.

"Sir, we have radio contact with a Colonel Vegeta Briefs taking command in Boston. Shall we tell them that the ARFs have flown the coop?" a militia sergeant, who sat by a working long distance radio set, had asked.

The Sergeant's voice transmitted to Ranma his worry at the fact that the ARFs may actually succeed in their diabolical plans.

"No. If we do, the ARFs will think their plan failed and jus' kill the hostages much sooner. Let's keep them in the dark fer a change," replied Ranma tersely as he was thinking of a plan to thwart the ARFs.

"I'm going in," said Akane, eager to bust a few heads.

"Uh-uh. You're staying here and takin' command," Ranma ordered giving her pause.

"I'll go," he continued evenly.

"Why?" she asked hotly.

"It's because I want ta keep you safe, not because of my promise to your parents but because I love you and I don't want you hurt," he explained, suddenly blushing all the while.

"I-I…" she stuttered, blushing as well.

"I promise I won't get hurt, honey. Bye." He had kissed her cherry lips before jumping on a nearby fast trike.

After Ranma had left in a squeal of tires, Akane had shaken her head to clear it of mental cobwebs then turned to the grinning militia in attendance.

"Alright, boys. Get the Hauberk ready for battle. I may need it to save that butt head's bacon real soon," the new commander had instructed haughtily, while holding her head high.

A hundred meters from the rendezvous point and moving further away, Ranma had wondered what the faint yet boisterous laughter was all about.

-oOo-

Culvert Entrance – 11:50 PM, Sunday

Ranma had gone straight for the culvert and backed his trike down like he did with the Hauberk earlier. He had kept the trike's headlights off so he would not be seen. At the end of the tunnel, he had quickly climbed up the trap door to emerge in the storage closet.

Stealthily, he had looked around both the office and the building itself. Not a shadow was seen in the entire floor. The place was so quiet; a pin dropping to the cold concrete floor could be heard. He had peeked at the front windows to where the trucks were parked around the garage just next door.

Each truck, a 18-wheeler flat bed, was fully loaded with 55-gallon drums of gasoline stacked like logs. If anything happened to the trucks, the barrels would roll everywhere.

Ranma was about to exit through the front door when his danger senses had flashed a quick warning. A shadowy figure with binoculars was peering at the trucks some distance from the front gate. The full moon was bright enough to reveal his presence to the pony-tailed duelist.

Ranma had quickly hid in the room's shadows where he had found a defusing kit. He then exited through the back to further escape detection, defusing kit in hand. As he closed the back door, it instantly locked itself.

'Perfect,' he thought sarcastically. The duelist had moved carefully along the sidewall, his back leaning heavily towards the wall itself.

At its nearest, a gap of twenty feet had separated him from the first truck. Again, Ranma had seen the figure watching the gap. He had wiftly crossed the gap in a crouching run when the figure turned his back for a few seconds. He stood up, breathing heavily, after merging with the truck's shadow.

The pony tailed duelist had reached the detonator in record time. To defuse it, Ranma needed to cut the red wire from the radio receiver to the C4 plastic explosive as he had been taught in the militia's officer school.

He had promptly defused the detonator and did the same with the other two in quick succession. He only had a bit of trouble with the last one since it can be seen from a distance. To avoid being seen, he crawled underneath the truck to reach and defuse it.

-oOo-

Seconds later, Ranma had sat back in the shadows for a quick rest as he released the spent kit. He had looked back in time to see all four red lights on the radio receivers turn on, then off , then on and off repeatedly.

Ranma had to laugh since some poor ARF must be pounding (and stomping) his radio transmitter and cursing a blue streak. He had risked another peek only to duck at an incoming bullet. Looking again, he saw several headlights coming his way.

'Looks like the ARF had a hidden reserve force. They now plan to ignite the gas themselves by shooting at it,' He had thought grimly.

A moment later, he could not believe his eyes as the Hauberk Custom barreled out from behind them and broke their formation with only support fire from the rest of the militia as her back up. He had to find a way to help or Akane would die.

Luckily, a tarp to his right had revealed a yellow turreted customized car, its plastic fireproof armor still intact. The only drawback was that the car itself is gasoline powered, judging by the very faint fumes that he could smell from the car's engine.

Ranma had immediately looked for a way to get in, almost killing himself when he had accidentally triggered the anti-theft system MK3A2 concussion grenade on the driver-side door.

At last, he had found a car key hidden in a metal box underneath the car itself. He used it to both open the slightly blackened door and turn the ignition as he settled in and buckled up.

The car's 456 cid gasoline engine had strained a bit before starting and roared when Ranma depressed the gas pedal.

The CD player in the middle of the dashboard automatically turned on and the beginning notes of **Queen's** "**Another One Bites the Dust**" began to play within the car interior.

'Alright, it's show time.' Ranma thought happily as he had put the car in gear and floored the accelerator. The yellow duel car had shot out of the gates towards the raging battle ahead.

-oOo-

Muddy fields outside the truck stop- 1:00 AM, Monday

Akane was beginning to have second thoughts about taking on the ARF reserve force all by her lonesome. She only disabled two (a cycle and a sedan) out of group of eight vehicles and was now fighting for dear life.

'Fire support only goes so far,' she thought regretfully.

Noticing a new vehicle entering the fray from the truck stop's direction, she thought sulkily 'Great, another one.'

The newcomer's auto cannon had barked once and one of the remaining ARF cycles exploded instantly.

"Hi honey, miss me?" asked an arrogant male voice on the airwaves. She smirked, knowing full well who it is.

Keying in the mike, Akane replied in false angry tone. "Yeah, what took ya so long?"

As she was talking, she launched her heavy rockets at the car following her, destroying it completely.

"Traffic was murder," Ranma joked clumsily as yet another ARF bit the dust.

"Real funny, dear" Akane said as she rained her next opponent with simultaneous machine gun and recoilless rifle fire.

The remaining two ARF cars had fled in terror at the fact that they were completely outgunned. The couple had chased them down until they were also crippled.

-oOo-

Thunder Tofu's Truck Stop Front Gate – 1:30 AM, Monday

Both the Hauberk Custom and Roadrunner (the yellow gas burner) had returned to the truck stop, their drivers happy that they had successfully prevented the truck stop's destruction.

The rest of the ARFs were still at large but a quick call to Colonel Briefs with their possible whereabouts would put an end to that.

Ranma and Akane had gotten off their respective vehicles as the other militia members also came back to free their trapped comrades still in the basement.

The Saotome pair was now leaning in the Hauberk's left side, hands on the back of their heads.

"Thank you for saving me, Ranma. I admit I went a little over my head back there," Akane confessed, blushing all the while.

"Nah, I should be the one ta thank you." he replied as he put his arm around her tiny waist, pulling her closer to him.

"Huh, why?" she asked, curious at the newly made confession.

"Well, if not for you, I woulda been a goner back there with those gasoline barrels going up in flames."

She put her hand on his chin, tilting his face downwards as she looked up at his blue eyes skeptically.

"Are ya sure you're Ranma and not a modified clone?" she scoffed teasingly.

"Love ya too, honey." He replied, leaning over and kissing her lips.

-oOo-

Soun had arrived minutes later, a little bruised but smiling widely.

"Oh my God! Dad, what happened to you?" Akane yelled both in surprise and anger.

"Nothing much, dear. I jus' got interrogated by an ARF," he replied calmly, brushing his torture off like it was nothing.

"Why those good for nothing assholes!" she cursed, fists clenched.

"No need for that, Akane. Vegeta jus' called me up. He said he found some of the ARF goons near the city's northern limits including my interrogator. He'll take good care of them," Soun smirked evilly as he was saying this.

He then left to find more ice for his bruises. The couple had to smile on what Soun meant by "taking care of."

-oOo-

By sunrise, the militia had the truck stop running again. The couple was woken from their brief nap in the Hauberk's back seat by Fiona who was now joined by her camerawoman, Sweet and fellow Channel Six field reporter, Leena Torros.

"So how does it feel to foil the ARFs plans of taking Boston and saving this truck stop, Mr. and Mrs. Saotome?" Leena asked as she was wrapping up her early morning news report.

"I'm jus' relieved that it's over, Ms Toros." Ranma succinctly answered.

"The same goes for me," Akane added.

"There you have it, dear viewers. Straight from the heroes' mouths. This is Leena Torros of Channel Six news. Back to you, Leon." Leena said as she had ended the interview, signaling Sweet to turn off the camera.

"Thank you for your time, Mr. and Mrs. Saotome. Good day." Leena shook their hands and joined her friends walking toward their news van parked nearby.

Van, Bit, and R.D. were all leaning against the said vehicle as if waiting to be interviewed, hearts can be seen in their eyes.

"Me thinks some of our boys are growin' up," observed Akane, trying to hide a smile.

"Maybe, but I think that it may go both ways." Ranma answered with a wide grin as he saw that the six young adults were now chatting happily with each other.

"How would you know, honey?" queried Akane, puzzled at his answer.

"That my dear Mrs. Saotome is a secret," he replied, before getting smacked in the back of the head for the umpteenth time. "Ow, that smarts."

"Excuse me, sir and madam. There's a phone call for you from Thunder Tofu," informed a newly arrived teenaged militia runner named Rudolf Zeppelin III.

"Alright, thank you very much." thanked the couple as they went to the pointed videophone.

-oOo-

On the videophone screen:

Tofu had looked a bit weak but ok. "Thanks for saving my life. I really owe you one," he told the couple as he was painfully adjusting his sitting position in the hospital bed.

"What are friends fer, Doc." answered Ranma in a sincere manner.

"Uh-huh, you even took the Roadrunner just to save Akane. The things you do for the ones you love," Tofu added slyly while clicking his tongue.

Both duelists had blushed heavily at that comment especially Ranma.

"Truth to tell, I don't much left now. I don't think my insurance company will even cover this. They'll just declare it as an act of war. Of course, my salvage claims on the leftover gasoline are probably more than enough fer me to break even," he continued evenly.

"As for the Roadrunner, I **was** thinking of returning to the duel circuit but I changed my mind. I'm too old now and I have to rebuild this place. Therefore, I give her to both of you. Take good care of her, ok?" he requested with a smile through the pain.

"We will, Doc. We promise," both replied sincerely.

"Hey, I heard that there's a race in Manchester…" he was saying before the newly-arrived nurse turned off his end of the videophone.

-oOo-

"How about it, honey? Should we go ta Manchester or jus' hang around here?" Ranma asked his wife on their way back to the cars.

"We race in Manchester, of course. We need some excitement in our lives," she retorted confidently. Ranma had raised his eyebrows at the given statement.

He was just strapping himself in the Hauberk Custom when the Roadrunner suddenly roared to life and took off.

He quickly gave chase to the delight of the Roadrunner's driver, currently listening to **Queen's** "**We are the Champions**", as the world around them was just beginning to rise and shine.

* * *

That's it for Fuel's Gold. I do hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I wrote it. Tofu's teasing line is actually borrowed from Duo Maxwell in one of the scenes of Gundum Wing: Endless Waltz. I just thought it would be fitting here.

As for the quote above, Fuel's Gold is just the start of the Anime Car War series, which will continue with Dueltrack (to be posted this September). So even if this story ends, there will still be new beginnings in other stories of this fan fiction series.

For those wondering where I got the quotes from Chapter 3 onwards, they are from Wiki-quotes.

I'll just post the re-edited Bitch: Anime Car War Style first to provide the needed closure for the Saotome story. I will start with a fresh storyline in Dueltrack with the Medabot characters and some cameos from Suikoden too.

As always, reviews and constructive criticisms are appreciated but not necessary. So just read and enjoy.


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